The Albury branch secretary of the NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association, Donna Coombes, yesterday put the case to the member for Albury, Greg Aplin.

She said the nurses had called for the meeting because The Nationals and Liberal party in NSW had rejected their call to improve the staff-patient ratios.

“We wanted to ensure he discusses the issue with his other members of Parliament to show how disadvantaged we are,” Miss Coombes said.

She said nurses were operating on ratios set out by the previous Labor Government.

“With more demands and an ageing population, we want to improve those ratios to the equivalent of metropolitan hospitals,” she said.

“Our patients are the most important thing and providing the care this state is renowned for, that’s what we want.”

The association is calling for the metropolitan ratio of one nurse to four patients in most wards during the morning.

They also want the afternoon ratio of one nurse to five patients and night ratio of seven patients a nurse — ratios they say would provide better care and safety.

Miss Coombes said Mr Aplin had promised he would take the nurses’ case the Health Minister Jillian Skinner.

“It comes down to the money side of things,” she said

Federal budget cuts were “trickling down to the states” making it harder for them to find the money.

“It comes down to more funding for more nurses so we can have fair ratios to provide patient safety,” Miss Coombes said.

The association has a petition to improve ratios at backyournurses.org/index.html.