Public Sector Updates – South

Royal Hobart Hospital (RHH)

Outpatient Oncology Unit (8A)

The ANMF attended a Step Two Grievance Specialist Panel meeting in the company of members to further claims of ongoing workload and staffing issues, first raised 23 June 2021. These discussions established that there is currently an absence of an articulated model of care, that workloads are substantial/excessive and that major work needs be done to identify the scope/methodologies of the service to cater more accurately to staffing requirements. The ANMF expressed their willingness to support such a body of work however requested that the Tasmanian Health Service (THS) submit an interim safe staffing plan to address current workloads whilst this work is ongoing. The THS committed to communicate such a position by COB Thursday 19 August 2021, following which the ANMF will meet with members to seek their resolution as to whether to accept the recommendations or escalate this matter directly to the Tasmanian Industrial Commission (TIC). Advice on a member meeting to come via separate flyer as soon as can be arranged.

Inpatient Oncology (9A)

The ANMF on behalf of members working in the Royal Hobart Hospital (RHH) Inpatient Oncology Unit have escalated the ongoing Grievance procedure to the TIC for assessment/resolution. This comes following items of formal correspondence being exchanged between the ANMF and the THS regarding the ongoing refusal to staff the unit to the level of 100% occupancy (21 beds), instead opting to staff only to the average occupancy of 19.92 beds. Members will be advised once a date for an initial conference in the TIC has been set.

Maternity Services (K7)

The ANMF is pleased to relay to members in RHH Maternity Services that recent developments within the ongoing Grievance procedure (currently being overseen by the TIC have resulted in agreement from THS to support indirect staffing within the service to a 10% capacity of overall direct care FTE. In this case, this will result in an immediate 5.4FTE increase, ostensibly for the purpose of converting Associate Midwifery Unit Managers (AMUM) to indirect roles. Furthermore, the re-Benchmarking venture continues unabated and is hoped to identify additional resources soon, following which the indirect FTE will be re-calculated immediately and increased pro-rata.

Updates correct as at 19 August 2021.
Authorised by Emily Shepherd, ANMF Tasmanian Branch Secretary