A Gold Coast solicitor is calling for Australia to introduce a coordinated system for screening people who work in the aged care sector, similar to the Working With Children Checks (WWCC) performed nation-wide that vets people wanting to work with children and young people. Christine Smyth, who specialises in laws affecting the elderly, said a recent advertisement in a Gold Coast newsletter highlighted a gap in protection for older Australians. The advertiser, described as a retired registered nurse, offered to mind seniors in clients’ homes on a freelance basis for $12 per hour, plus a one-off payment of $8 for petrol. Ms Smyth said she was sceptical about the advertisement.
July 25, 2018
A s.185 (Enterprise agreement) application from Kinscem Pty Ltd T/A Glenlyn Aged Care Facility for its Glenlyn Aged Care Facility, ANMF and HSU Enterprise Agreement 2017 has been passed by Fair Work Commissioner Lee sitting in Melbourne on 24 July 2018.
July 25, 2018
A s.185 (Enterprise agreement) application from Diaverum Pty Ltd for the Diaverum and Nursing Staff Enterprise Agreement 2016-2019 has been granted by Fair Work Commissioner Lee in Melbourne on 24 July 2018.
July 24, 2018
Krystal Janet Marie Pearce, 33, was sentenced to more than two years and two months in jail when she appeared in the Hamilton District Court on Tuesday. Krystal Pearce was fully aware of the gravity of what she was doing when she slipped into the room of a 91-year-old woman in a Hamilton rest home and stole her handbag. She was aware because it was the same thing she had done and been convicted of in 2011. Krystal Janet Marie Pearce, 33, was jailed for two years and two months when she appeared in the Hamilton District Court on Tuesday, on one charge of burglary and five of using a document – her victim’s credit card – for pecuniary advantage. Judge Philip Crayton said while the burglary took place during the day – generally a tempering factor for people on such charges because the occupants are usually not at home – this was not the case for rest homes. And Pearce was also fully aware of the vulnerability of her victim because the Selwyn Wilson Carlile Retirement Village in Hamilton east was a previous target among her 36 recorded burglaries.
July 24, 2018
Thieves hijacked a young nurse’s car moments after she was caught up in a fender bender. The actions left the 21-year-old Hamilton newcomer shocked and teary on the roadside in Hamilton East on Monday – with no ride to clock in for her shift at Waikato Hospital. Police would later spot the stolen Legnum and chase it to Lake Rotoroa where the culprits scarpered. The woman, was on her way to work at Waikato Hospital around 2pm on Monday when she was involved in a minor crash on Grey St.
July 24, 2018
An orthopaedic surgeon who forged prescriptions for himself and his wife was a “danger to the public” according to the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal, which fined him $19,000. American national Stephen Augustine worked at Gisborne Hospital from October, 2014 to March, 2016. On 20 occasions between August 2015 and March 2016 Augustine wrote prescriptions for codeine phosphate on Gisborne Hospital generic prescription pads under the name of a colleague and forged the colleague’s signature. He used his own patient details and those of his wife and presented the prescriptions at seven different community pharmacies in the Gisborne area and collected the drugs himself. He fraudulently obtained 1970 pills over a seven month period. Augustine’s offending led to his colleague being temporarily prevented by his employer from writing prescriptions. Police laid 20 charges against Augustine. He appeared in Gisborne District Court in May, 2016, and was discharged without conviction. The Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal heard a charge against Augustine in April. One part of the charge related to his forging the signature of another medical practitioner. The other related to prescribing codeine phosphate tablets for his wife when he knew or ought to have known that such prescribing of a drug of dependence was inappropriate and/or contrary to acceptable medical practice. In a recently released finding the Tribunal said it “had no hesitation in finding the charge and each of its two particulars both severally and cumulatively amounted to professional misconduct”. Augustine, who did not attend the hearing, no longer lived in New Zealand and did not intend to return to practise medicine here, the Tribunal said. The Tribunal said there had been “plenty of opportunities” for Augustine to respond to the charges but he had not done so. “The Tribunal found the Doctor is a danger to the public which needs protection from him,” it said. Augustine had his doctor’s registration cancelled and was ordered to pay costs of $19,000. The Tribunal requested the NZ Medical Council to send a copy of its decision to the appropriate authorities in the States of Florida and Georgia and the Federal Authorities in the United States of America “so that those authorities there are fully conversant with the matters raised in this decision”.
July 24, 2018
Epworth Health Care has eleven s.739 (Application to deal with a dispute) listed for hearing by Commissioner Cribb in Melbourne. The claimants include: Bosse, Duong, Godranah, Kedir, Manansala, Nesci, Noel, Schurmann, Tomic, Trijo and Whitling.
July 24, 2018
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation and Melbourne Health are in a s.739 (Application to deal with a dispute) set for hearing before Fair Work Commissioner Cribb in Conference Room E and Conference Room F – Level 6 in Melbourne today.
