2 June 2020
Nurses have been lauded around the nation and South Australia as heroes for their efforts on the COVID frontline.
And their reward for such tireless, potentially life-threatening work? A fresh round of redundancies.
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (SA Branch), has learnt of plans to restart Voluntary Separation Packages at Central Adelaide Local Health Network (CALHN) – part of a cost-cutting exercise implemented last year across the SA health system – to meet the end-of-financial-year deadline.
The Voluntary Separation Packages (VSPs), inviting staff to put up their hands for redundancy payouts, were put on hold once the coronavirus pandemic emergency was declared.
In total 395 staff applied, about 150 of them nurses, with 377 packages still to be taken.
ANMF (SA Branch) CEO/Secretary Adj. Associate Professor Elizabeth Dabars AM has stated that this is completely irresponsible while the health system is still in “Code Brown”.
A Code Brown is called by a health service or facility when additional capability and capacity needs to be mobilised within that facility to receive an influx of patients. The recent state of external emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic triggered this code to be activated.
“While we are still in Code Brown, I don’t know how they can justify getting rid of nurses,’’ Ms Dabars said.
“At the beginning of the pandemic hospitals started a process of getting retired nurses back into the workforce.
“Now that COVID is steady they want to get rid of people, it seems unnecessary and reckless,’’ she says.
“Despite assurances, we have not had any notification from CALHN of a change in position.’’
ANMF (SA Branch) are seeking a formal commitment that the plans to recommence VSPs will be placed on hold until Code Brown is no longer in place.