HEALTH bosses in Western Australia are treating a threatened nurses' strike as a looming disaster and say patients are already in peril from bed closures.
Nurses in WA's major hospitals have voted to go on strike for 24 hours unless they receive by Monday a fresh offer of a 20 per cent pay hike over three years.
The Australian Nurses Federation state secretary Mark Olson said relations with the Department of Health had turned "toxic" before nurses voted on Friday nurses voted to scrap their previous pay offer of 12.75 per cent and return to their original demand of 20 per cent over three years.
Almost 300 beds in hospitals around the state will stay closed over the weekend.
Kim Snowball, WA's director general of health, said patients' lives were already being put at risk and the health system as looking at a crisis.
"This is a crisis we have not faced before, and I have activated our disaster preparedness management unit to help us through this disaster - because that is what it is," Mr Snowball said.
Gary Geelhoed, WA's chief medical officer, said the situation was already a matter of life and death, saying an 80-year-old male patient had waited 80 hours for a hospital bed this week.
"This may lead to the death of patients," Mr Geelhoed said.
Mr Olson told the 1200 nurses at Friday's meeting that relations between the union and WA health were so bad that Mr Snowball had told him to 'f*** off' as Mr Olson left to address his members.
Mr Snowball has denied the claim, and Mr Olson later told media the remark was made by a "department of health official".
The nurses' threat to walk off the job in the middle of an election campaign has stepped up pressure on Premier Colin Barnett to intervene.
"Billions of dollars are going around in this election like confetti, and he expects the public to believe he can't make a promise to nurses," Mr Olson said.
"The premier needs to get someone here from his department into these negotiations."
The face-to-face meeting between Mr Snowball and Mr Olson on Friday morning followed a week of talks at the Industrial Relations Commission (IRC).
Mr Olson told the nurses he had been abused as he left by "bovver boys in the health department".
A spokeswoman for Mr Snowball said the health boss would not describe the encounter as heated and denied he had sworn.
Mr Barnett has said no agreement with the nurses could be signed during the caretaker period before the March 9 election, but health bureaucrats could agree to a deal in principle and recommend it to the government.
"We would be very pleased and we would sign up if an agreement is negotiated during this period," Mr Barnett said.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Perth public nurses poised for mass strike
Dengan url
http://writerlovery.blogspot.com/2013/02/perth-public-nurses-poised-for-mass.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Perth public nurses poised for mass strike
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Perth public nurses poised for mass strike
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar