Released Thursday 19 September 2024
HSUWA-members have further escalated their industrial action this week, after the State Government has continually failed to deliver the meaningful reform to the pay and conditions needed to deal with the current crisis attracting and retaining experienced public health professionals in WA.
Inefficient wage levels and a lack of modern career pathways are contributing to a public health workforce marred by high turnover, with qualified professionals choosing to not practice or work in an increasingly uncompetitive and unattractive public health sector.
The Government must invest now in WA’s public health workforce so they can deliver critical patient care well and safely.
All-member actions commenced yesterday, with HSUWA members now handing out information flyers to members of the public and patients on the campaign calling on WA Health to invest now in the public health workforce.
Hospital Pharmacists from 23 different hospital sites across WA will commence work bans tomorrow to run until 27 September, with HSUWA members not collecting payments for prescription items or preparing patient medication lists on hospital wards for patient discharge during this time.
Anaesthetic Technicians will engage in a four-hour stop work at Rockingham and Armadale Hospitals from 7.30am tomorrow. The same stoppages will occur every morning next week at a different hospital site each day, until Monday 30 September 2024.
This four-hour strike represents the biggest escalation to date after six years of campaigning and many months of industrial action by low paid Anaesthetic Technicians. Anaesthetic Technicians, who have not had a revision to their pay structure in decades, are fighting for a contemporary career structure to address serious staffing concerns and sustainably attract and retain the highly specialised staff needed in surgical theatres to deliver patient care.
Medical Imaging Technologists will engage in a one-hour stop work at the same hospital sites, alongside Anaesthetic Technicians, from 8.30am, asking the Government to urgently step in and invest now in the public health workforce.
Confirmation the stop-works could proceed has only been possible today after Health this week desperately attempted to prevent the actions from proceeding, even taking the unprecedented step of threatening that members who take part in lawful industrial actions such work bans or distributing flyers to patients could potentially breach the WA Health Code of Conduct.
Members are confident these carefully crafted stop work actions will not put patients at clinical risk and have given nine to nineteen days’ notice to Health, limiting the strike to two sites at a time to minimise the impacts.
Make no mistake, HSUWA Anaesthetic Technician and Medical Imaging Technologist members do not want to stop work and have exhausted all other options of industrial action that would not inconvenience patients. Our members want, more than anything, to get back to helping patients under modern, fair career pathways that support the attraction and retention of staff.
The decision to take this industrial action is a last resort for HSUWA members. Ten months of negotiations have failed to deliver a decent response from the Cook Government. Despite the overwhelming need, there has been no meaningful progress on the critical career pathway reforms.
HSUWA members including Anaesthetic Technicians, Medical Imaging Technologists and Pharmacy members have been left to either accepting minimal change and letting serious workforce issues worsen or do everything they can to push the Government to fix these problems.
The Government has its head in the sand, failing to listen to our member’s calls to fix the now deep-rooted, serious workforce pressure issues in the public health system for years.
The WA Government has a choice: fix these deep-set problems and invest now in the public health workforce or do nothing and allow the problems to worsen. The Government’s dogged determination to take the latter option has compelled HSUWA members to strike and escalate industrial action.
An investment now will deliver dividends for WA health’s future and sustainability.
An investment now provides the recognition and respect that the public health workforce deserves.
Comments attributed to Naomi McCrae, HSUWA Secretary:
“Friday’s strike at Rockingham and Armadale Hospitals is a carefully considered option of last resort for HSUWA Anaesthetic Technicians and Medical Imaging Technologists after Health have continually failed to listen to members or engage in meaningful reform to the career pathway claims.”
“HSUWA Anaesthetic Technicians, Medical Imaging Technologists and Hospital Pharmacists have dedicated their lives to delivering care to WA public health patients. Our members have stayed in their roles and continued delivering patient care despite working in roles with antiquated career pathways that disincentivise staff retention.
“These members would undoubtably be financially better off in the private sector – but have remained dedicated to public health care despite having no further career pathway after as little as six years in their chosen profession.
“Accusations made by Health this week that HSUWA members would be anything but completely dedicated to the delivery of safe, high quality and sustainable health care as envisaged by the Health Code of Conduct is offensive and insulting. This is the perfect illustration of just how disconnected Health is from its increasingly disheartened workforce.
“Western Australians deserve the best in public health care, but without overdue reforms and better conditions and pay to make up for some of the huge losses to real wages experienced over recent years, public health will remain an uncompetitive and unattractive career option.
“Without an investment now by the State Government, the serious strife our public health workforce has found itself in after years of Government inaction and underinvestment will only intensify.”
