Cr Robin Saville led the charge at Tuesday’s council meeting.

His notice of motion, passed unanimously, means that Council will support nurses in their campaign to “achieve nurse to patient equity with their city counterparts.”

As a result, it will also send letters of support to Premier Barry O’Farrell, Health Minister Jillian Skinner, shadow health spokesman Dr Andrew McDonald and Goulburn MP Pru Goward.

Cr Saville attended a rally in Belmore Park last month where the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association called for changes.

Metropolitan hospitals have one nurse to every four patients, but in rural and regional areas it’s a 1:4 ratio.

“This puts nurses at greater risk and patient care suffers,” Cr Saville said.

“I’m asking that you support this also as a show of support for regional areas. Mr Mayor, health care and nurses’ welfare should be beyond politics but also beyond the city/country divide.”

The Association has claimed the ratios have affected patient care at Chisholm Ross Centre and Goulburn Base Hospital.

Cr Kettle said he was very happy to support the motion.

Cr Margaret O’Neill said she had had joined two hospital protests, including one about staffing changes at “St John of God Hospital” (“and I still call it that”).

“We seem to have a situation where we’re the long lost cousins, so I very much support this,” she told the meeting.

But Ms Goward told the Post last month that NSW did not employ ratios. Instead, it operated on “nursing hours per patient days.”

“This provides more flexibility in staffing and means services are more closely aligned with patients’ needs,” she said.

“The nurse staffing formula is the same for all hospitals, both metropolitan and regional.”

Ms Goward believed the system worked. However the Association disagreed, saying nurses were frequently working double shifts to make up shortfalls.