The number of qualified nurses caring for patients living in nursing homes matters. Nurses  improve your quality of life when you can no longer take care of yourself.

The nurses, the patients, their families and the community are campaigning to stop the Napthine Government and Barwon Health management cutting 324 nursing hours each week from two nursing homes in Geelong – McKellar Centre’s Wallace Lodge and Alan David Lodge.

Three hundred and twenty four nursing hours equates to almost nine nurses. That’s nine fewer nurses on shifts to make sure the right medication is administered at the right time, to prevent pressure injuries occurring on patients with a debilitating or terminal illness, and to spend time with patients' families and explain the treatment or why there's been a deterioration in their loved one's condition and what it means for the future. It's fewer nurses with less time to assess and detect the early symptoms of pain and treat its underlying cause and less time to help families navigate the system.

In 2006 and 2007 Barwon Health executives recognised that the patients of Wallace Lodge and Alan David Lodge required that 324 hours of nursing care above the minimum ratios were required in order to provide safe patient care. The patients' nursing needs have not decreased. Almost nine nurses each week will be removed from the roster and this will have a detrimental impact on the standards of patient care.

Please sign our petition calling on Premier Napthine to provide adequate funding to return 324 nursing hours to Wallace Lodge and Alan David Lodge and that Barwon Health executives ensure this funding is used to retain 324 nursing hours and maintain the high standard of patient care in these nursing homes.