NEWS-HR

The Salvation Army is defending a s.394 (Application for unfair dismissal) lodged by an ex-staffer (Connelly).

An application for approval of the Mary Ogilvy Homes Society Nursing & Non-Nursing Staff Agreement 2016 (s.185 – Application for approval of a single-enterprise agreement) will be determined by Commissioner Johns.

An application for approval of the Calvary Retirement Community (New South Wales) and the New South Wales Nurses’ Association/ANF – NSW Branch Nursing Staff Enterprise Agreement 2016 (s.185 – Application for approval of a single-enterprise agreement) is set for hearing by Commissioner Johns in his Sydney Chambers.

Bendigo Health Care Group is challenging the Logan decision (s.604 – Appeal of decisions) before the Full Bench today.

A Hamilton resthome caregiver has admitted assaulting an elderly man she was caring for in a city rest home. However, Judge Simon Menzies held off convicting Sonali Ananta Deo in the Hamilton District Court today so an application could be filed for a discharge without conviction. Deo admitted assaulting Piri Hemi between June 9 and June 11 after his son, Allan, set up a camera in his room at Cascades Rest Home. Allan Hemi’s footage showed the 23-year-old hitting and slapping his father as he lay on his bed.

In a significant win for the West Australian Government, agreements for new pay deals have been reached with the state’s doctors and nurses. The Australian Medical Association (AMA), the Australian Nursing Federation (ANF) and United Voice have agreed to accept a pay rise of 1.5 per cent. It is less than what was being sought, with the AMA having sought more than 6 per cent over three years and the ANF saying in April that 1.5 per cent was unlikely to be acceptable. However, the AMA has described the deal as a good outcome in the current economic climate. The AMA’s agreement runs for three years, while those for the nurses and enrolled nurses run for two years.

St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney is facing a s.394 (Application for unfair dismissal remedy) launched by an ex-staffer (Grygiel).

A male mental health nurse who had sex with a vulnerable female patient has been struck off the nursing register. In its verdict published after an earlier Wellington hearing, the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal has also censured the nurse for his unethical behaviour and ordered him to pay $9920 towards the costs of his prosecution. The nurse had “exploited” the woman’s troubles with alcohol by giving her wine, the lawyers representing the Health and Disability Commissioner’s prosecutor told the tribunal. His name has been suppressed, to protect the patient, whose name is also suppressed. The nurse, who had been registered for 32 years, was working as a forensic court liaison nurse for an unnamed district health board. The woman, a client of its community mental health service a number of times, had a pending court appearance for which she required the nurse’s services. She had a history of major depressive disorder, generalised anxiety and panic attacks, thinking about suicide, and alcohol issues. She was particularly vulnerable to exploitation after drinking alcohol.