Ms ROSOL (Bass) – I rise this evening to draw attention to concerns that ANMF have raised in the last few days. The first concern relates to what ANMF refers to as wage theft from nurses.
In November last year, an industrial agreement between the government, ANMF and HACSU members entitled nurses to receive a personal protective equipment allowance of $2.70 per hour for the times they are required to wear an N95 mask for more than 70 per cent of the shift. In response to COVID-19, hospital staff are frequently required to wear N95 masks to protect patients and staff from infection. While this is important for reducing the spread of disease within our hospitals, nursing staff report that wearing the masks for long periods is unpleasant and uncomfortable.
The PPE allowance compensates nurses for the inconvenience of wearing N95 masks. ANMF report that some of their members in the south and the north west of the state have received the PPE payments, but others have not. Meanwhile, in the north, no members have been paid the allowance, and the back pay nurses are now owed in some situations adds up to thousands of dollars per nurse.
ANMF have raised this issue with the department of health, but have been met with stonewalling, with no information given about when nurses can expect to receive their back pay. The department have indicated this is due to insufficient staffing within payroll. It is simply not good enough that nursing staff who must wear masks for extended periods are not being paid the allowance they are entitled to – the allowance that has been agreed to by the government.
Insufficient staffing within payroll is not an acceptable reason for staff not to be paid the allowance to which they are entitled. In a climate where the government is using vacancy control committees to cut staff across the department of Health, it is doubtful payroll staffing issues will be addressed anytime soon, bringing into further question the government’s commitment to addressing the issue of back pay anytime soon. Understaffing, coupled with a disregard for difficult working conditions, are what health staff can expect going forward.
When will all nursing staff required to wear masks for extended periods receive the allowance the government agreed to pay them? I call on the government to fulfil their obligation and back pay nurses as soon as possible, as well as to ensure all nurses who wear masks receive payment of the allowance in an ongoing, timely manner so they do not need to fight to receive what should automatically be paid to them.
The second ANMF concern I draw attention to is the seclusion of voluntary paediatric patients on the Wombat Ward at Launceston General Hospital. Paediatric patients who are voluntarily admitted to Wombat Ward for mental health issues are routinely being placed in a locked unit, something that should only take place after application to the Mental Health Tribunal, following a mental health assessment.
Patients’ rights are being contravened, but when ANMF members have raised this issue, completed Safety and Learning System Report Complaints, spoken to management, lodged protected interest disclosures and raised the matter directly with the Health Complaints Commissioner, they have been fobbed off, meaning their child safety concerns remain unanswered and voluntarily admitted mental health patients on the Wombat Ward continue to receive inappropriate treatment.
The Greens join with the ANMF invoicing concern at this situation. Children deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. They deserve to have their rights respected, protected and to receive care and treatment that is appropriate to their health situation.
The Greens are also concerned about what this indicates about the government’s response to the Commission of Inquiry report. We know that in the past, children have not always been safe within government institutions, and the government has committed to making government services, including hospitals, safe for Tasmanian children.
Yet here we are advised of a situation where children on Wombat Ward are not safe and the government response has been inadequate. The Greens call on the Government to listen to the concerns of ANMF members, to investigate SLRS reports and concerns raised by nursing staff into the seclusion of voluntary mental health patients on Wombat Ward, and to ensure paediatric patients are receiving appropriate safe treatment that complies with the Mental Health Act 2013.
Honourable Speaker, it is simply not good enough that in a government health service, nursing staff are not being paid allowances and back pay they are entitled to, and paediatric patients are not receiving appropriate care that will help them heal and recover.
Thank you to the ANMF for the work they do in fighting for the rights of nursing staff and advocating for the safety and well-being of patients within Tasmanian hospitals. We call on the Government to take action on both these situations.
