ACT election 2020: Labor commits to nurse-to-patient ratios, more clinical staff

Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the pledge would include 200 new nurses and more than 150 clinical staff including specialists and registrars.

"Our doctors and nurses have been there when our city needed them, testing tens of thousands of Canberrans for COVID-19 and treating those who were infected by the virus," he said.

"Many of the additional front-line staff will work in our bigger, better Canberra Hospital following the Canberra hospital expansion."

Labor has also pledged to finally implement nurse/midwife to patient ratios.

In 2018, it committed to developing a framework to implement ratios, but stopped short of committing to them.

Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said the government was in talks with the nurses' union about ratios as part of their enterprise bargaining negotiations.

She said there were a few small aspects of a ratio system to be finalised.

"We've accepted the evidence that nurse-patient ratios not only work for staff ... but they create a safer system," she said.

She could not give a clear time frame of when they would be implemented, but said it would happen in the next term of government.

Mr Barr said Labor would be making more health announcements over the next seven days.

"A re-elected Labor government will keep working every day to protect the health and livelihoods of our community," he said.

"In these uncertain times, ACT Labor has the right plan to support Canberra and protect local jobs."

Mr Barr said the total estimated cost of the extra staff over the next term of government was about $240 million - depending on final ratios, recruitment profiles that will be determined according to population growth and finalisation of construction and upgrades.

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It came as the government committed to ongoing funding for the PACER program. The program aims to keep people in a mental health crisis out of hospital, with a paramedic, police officer and mental health clinician dispatched together to incidents across the territory.

Ms Stephen-Smith said the Labor would fund the program on an ongoing basis if reelected.

However it's not clear in what capacity the service would be funded. Those working on PACER want it to be extended to a 24 hour a day model.