A 78-year-old resident at an apartment complex for the elderly shot and killed an assistant manager over accusations of theft.
January 23, 2017
Staff at a Victorian public hospital have been told to spend more time focusing on their jobs instead of binging on movies and surfing the net while at work. Ballarat Health Services has warned its 4000 staff to cut down on excessive personal internet use after an internal audit revealed its public servants were spending too much time downloading music and watching films on Netflix. The public hospital says staff were abusing the free, taxpayer-funded internet so much, it was slowing down its computer network, leaving vital programs unable to run properly. Despite the crackdown, the hospital admitted it will continue to allow its staff to surf the internet for personal use
January 23, 2017
Yvonne Inguz is alleging that QNA Health Care Services Pty Ltd has failed to make superannuation payments (both compulsory and by way of salary sacrifice) on her behalf. But the president of the Northern Territory Civil and Administrative Tribunal Richard Bruxner has ruled he does not have the jurisdiction to hear the claim.
January 23, 2017
Hawkesbury District Health Services Limited has succeeded in convincing the NSW Workers Compensation Commission to review the injury claims of Sin Yu (Anna) Lam. The NSWWCC ruled that “the Medical Assessment Certificate given in this matter should be revoked, and that the degree of permanent impairment is not fully ascertainable.”
January 23, 2017
Victorian ambos sometimes use painkiller Fentanyl to deal with job stress – but the paramedics union denies 10 Geelong staff were sacked or disciplined due to the drug. Ambulance Employees Australia secretary Steve McGhie says about 20 paramedics were interviewed as part of an Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission investigation of Ambulance Victoria. But Mr McGhie says the 10 Geelong staff in question resigned or were disciplined for behaviour in their personal or social life that breached the professional code of conduct – not because of the drug. Mr McGhie says while Fentanyl misuse isn’t a “huge issue” among paramedics, he says about six people in recent years have developed a dependency, largely because of undiagnosed mental health injuries incurred at work.
January 23, 2017
Sao Duarte has lost her unfair dismissal claim against The Paraplegic & Quadriplegic Association of NSW because Deputy President Booth ruled that “she was unable to undertake the inherent requirements of her job as a result of incapacity.”
January 23, 2017
A former disability support worker sprayed petrol over a shop attendant and threatened to set him alight during an armed robbery, a court has heard. Police allege Kepa Kemp, 40, separately threatened five people with weapons and robbed them in Melbourne’s west between December 10 and December 27 last year. The alleged armed robberies include threats made against attendants in a tobacco shop, convenience store and pharmacy and a taxi driver. Mr Kemp later told police he was drinking between four and six litres of cask wine each day at the time and also using the drugs cannabis and ice, Melbourne Magistrates Court heard.
January 20, 2017
Proposed industrial action by nurses at two of Adelaide’s major public hospitals could lead to patients waiting in ambulances outside emergency departments, the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) has warned. Nurses at the Royal Adelaide and Queen Elizabeth hospitals are planning to limit emergency department admissions in protest against cuts to patient beds, including the closure of Ward S7 at the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH). The SA Government will today seek an urgent injunction from the state’s Industrial Relations Commission to stop staff taking the action, which Health Minister Jack Snelling said could “hurt patients”.
