The Illawarra is bracing itself for wild weather as severe storms, including one that saw lightning strike an Albion Park aged care centre, hit the region.
March 14, 2017
A caregiver caught on hidden camera slapping an elderly rest home resident has been convicted of assault. Sonali Ananta Deo, 23, asked to be discharged without conviction so she could train as a nurse but Judge Kim Saunders said the offending was too serious to avoid a conviction. Deo was caught slapping Piri Hemi, then 86, on the face and hip in June last year when he was a resident at Cascades Retirement Home in Hamilton.
March 14, 2017
A s.185 (Enterprise agreement) application by Healthe Care Australia Pty Ltd for its Healthe Care (Victorian Hospitals) Support Services Enterprise Agreement 2016 has been approved by Commissioner Johns in Melbourne.
March 14, 2017
Keith Bunda Hunter has failed to have practice restrictions imposed by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia lifted. Hunter worked as a remote area nurse at the Mititjulu Health Clinic. He commenced working at the clinic in February 2014 and in November 2014 he was required to care for and transfer a patient suffering from active contagious tuberculosis. During this task he was required to wear personal protective equipment including a mask. Not long later, he presented at the clinic with symptoms of active TB. He was seen by a nurse and a district medical officer and was put on sick leave. The nurse claims Hunter was told to isolate himself and wear a mask until a diagnosis could occur. He says he was not told to remain isolated and says he was merely advised to go home. On this issue the Northern Territory Civil and Administrative Tribunal prefers the evidence of Hunter. Contemporaneous medical records refer to wearing a mask and not having patient contact, but do not include a specific direction to remain isolated. But it was not enough to save Hunter. “The Tribunal agrees with the conditions imposed by the nursing and midwifery board of Australia as they prevent Hunter from treating patients alone, require further mentoring, and importantly require further performance assessment before the conditions are removed. Hunter has identified skills and it is hoped that further mentoring will allow him to pass the further assessment and return to unrestricted practice.”
March 14, 2017
A Calvary Hospital office worker, who was sacked after an investigation found he sexually harassed his colleague while at work, has lost an unfair dismissal claim against his employer. It had been alleged that at about 1pm on May 19, 2016, the man, an administrative employee, invited his co-worker for a cigarette and to see his new office, which was under construction. The woman alleged that when they got to the new office, he started playing with the blinds as if to close them, and invited her inside. The woman said she declined and walked away. “[The man] said my name while I was walking away from him down the corridor, I stopped and turned around and found him standing very close to me and then he aggressively grabbed my left arm. “He then grabbed my hips with both of his hands and tried to convince me to meet up with him that weekend … he also repeated “It’s ok”, “don’t worry”, “don’t be scared”, “let’s catch up”.” The man, who started at Calvary in September 2014 having transferred from the Canberra Hospital, denied fully the allegations. He said he never invited the woman for a cigarette, and that it was her who had asked him if she could see the new work area. On June 9, the hospital engaged Silver Sands Consulting to conduct an external investigation. An investigation report on June 26 said there was enough evidence to form an opinion the man had grabbed the woman and left a bruise to her arm. The report found he had sexually harassed her, and also that he breached Calvary’s code of conduct and behaviour policies. The man, who had been stood down without pay on May 26, was notified on August 5 that he had been found guilty of serious misconduct, and his job was to be summarily terminated. He took his case to the Fair Work Commission and hearings were held in Canberra in December last year and January 2017, where co-workers, the report writer and others were questioned. The man said there was no valid reason for his sacking and it was harsh, unjust and unreasonable. He said he was not afforded procedural fairness or natural justice in responding to the allegation, and that the hospital had not carried out a proper investigation. The latter claims against Calvary related to the investigator’s alleged lack of experience or qualifications to conduct an investigation, an alleged failure to contact witnesses that would have corroborated his version of events, and an alleged refusal to release a copy of the report and any evidence with respect to the decision to sack him. He sought reinstatement to his former position with back pay. But in a Fair Work Commission decision, deputy president John Kovacic dismissed the man’s claim, finding his termination in the circumstances was justified. The deputy president found, on the balance of probabilities, that the worker did grab and proposition the woman, and that this was serious misconduct. There was therefore a valid reason for the sacking, and the hospital’s decision was defensible. Mr Kovacic noted several witnesses had described the woman in some level of distress when talking about what happened. Under a heading labelled “other matters the commission considered relevant”, Mr Kovacic noted the hospital had said the employee launched “a character assassination upon [the woman] rarely seen in unfair dismissal proceedings”. The hospital also said he had failed to appreciate the seriousness of the alleged behaviour. Serge Gorval, solicitor director at Gorval Lynch and the man’s lawyer, said his client was considering his position, which included an appeal of the decision as well as other options. Mr Gorval said his client denied the allegations wholeheartedly.
March 14, 2017
The New South Wales Health Minister plans to seize the Sydney home of a man who is accused of defrauding four of the state’s hospitals over 11 years by posing as a doctor. Shyam Acharya allegedly masqueraded as UK doctor Sarang Chitale in four New South Wales public hospitals over a decade. He has left the country and is believed to have left his wife and a small child in Australia. NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard has confirmed he plans to seize a home owned by Mr Acharya in North Ryde worth a reported $1.5 million
March 14, 2017
An application by Mr Pritchard and District Community Club Limited (s.319 – Application for an order relating to instruments covering new employer and non-transferring employee) will be determined by Senior Deputy President Hamberger in his Sydney chambers.
March 14, 2017
Care workers have been filming themselves perform sex shows whilst working for an international brand care organisation. Staff also removed their clothes at their head office and one of the care co-ordinators was paid for a private show on a webcam. The carers use the site adultwork.com to advertise services to online punters. Health chiefs who were shown the footage have ordered an investigation.
