Dear Patients, Family and Support persons,

Welcome to St Vincent’s Private Hospital. 

St Vincent’s is a not-for-profit health and aged care provider. We have operated since 1857 to provide better and fairer care for all our patients from Victoria to Queensland, from public to private. And have been rated No 1 Private Hospital Group across Australia by Medibank members for 4 years running.

Over the past few months, we have been working to deliver new pay and conditions for our nurses and midwives here are at St Vincent's Private Hospital. Our proposed agreement would have made our St Vincent’s Private Hospital nurses and midwives the best paid in Victoria come February, while also providing pay parity with the public hospital.   The proposed agreement included a significant 11.5% pay increase over two years – vital during this cost-of-living crisis. Unfortunately, the Australian Nursing & Midwifery Federation trade union did not support this agreement and will be conducting some industrial action around the hospital.

Patient safety continues to be our top priority, and we want to assure you that we will maintain our commitment to providing quality and safe care as always.

What does this mean for you?

Since 18th November, nursing and midwifery union members have been conducting some industrial actions, such as some staff wearing red t-shirts, sharing campaign materials or discussing the negotiations with you. They also have the choice to not perform some administrative tasks during this time. 

As part of the industrial action, the Australian Nurses and Midwifery Federation (Union) have advised the hospital of their intent to commence rolling protected industrial action for up to four hours per shift starting from 7am on Friday, 13th December and ongoing.  We have been working closely with our staff to prioritise the required level of staff rostered to provide care to our patients during this time, and ensure safety is paramount.

If a union member approaches you to discuss the industrial action and you prefer not to engage in the conversation, you have the right to refuse. Should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to speak with your nurse in charge or contact the hospital coordinator.

We are doing everything we can to reach an agreement that supports our highly valued staff and maintain our commitment to providing safe care for our patients.  I thank you for your patience and understanding as we navigate this period, as we work to prevent any delay or disruption during your hospital stay. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to speak to the Nurse Unit Manager, Hospital Coordinator, Hospital General Manager or myself.  

Kind regards, 

Janine Loader

CEO, St Vincent’s Private Hospitals Victoria