NSW police have been asked to investigate a man who allegedly stole a doctor’s identity and managed to remain employed for more than a decade at four of the state’s hospitals. Shyam Acharya has already been charged by the Australia Health Practitioners Regulatory Authority but NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard says the maximum $30,000 penalty is woefully inadequate. He has asked Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione to pursue the case after previously leaving it to federal authorities and the state’s top cop has agreed.
March 15, 2017
The National Union of Workers and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (Australia) P/L – Tasmania have a s.739 (Application to deal with a dispute) before Deputy President Wells in the Fair Work Commission Edward Braddon Commonwealth Law Courts Building 39 – 41 Davey Street Hobart at noon.
March 15, 2017
Empowered Living Support Services Ltd is defending a s.372 (Application to deal with other contravention disputes) before Commissioner Johns in the Fair Work Commission Terrace Tower 80 William Street East Sydney at 2pm (Davey).
March 15, 2017
A recidivist fraudster who impersonates police before stealing credit cards has been jailed after fleecing nearly $10,000 from his unsuspecting victims. Jason Pope, 40, of Auckland, was this afternoon jailed for 4 years and 9 months on a total of 56 charges from offending in Hamilton and Te Awamutu during 2015. Pope’s ruse was similar for each of his eight victims – he dressed in blue and would be clutching a folder with “police” written on the front of it before talking his way into their homes by saying there had been burglaries in the area. He would then steal personal belongings – including wallets, purses, cellphones – and then call the victims back purporting to be police saying they had arrested the burglars. He would then coax PIN numbers from the victims and go on a spending spree. All up, Pope spent $9543.90 belonging to rest home residents, including from Hamilton’s Hilda Ross Retirement Village. In sentencing him to prison, Judge Spear said Pope’s conduct was that of a classic conman.
March 14, 2017
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.”
