The Health Services Union-New South Wales Branch and Anglican Community Services have a s.739 (Application to deal with a dispute) before Fair Work Vice President Catanzariti in his Sydney chambers today.
July 12, 2018
A registered nurse has been suspended for two months after she failed to chaperone a doctor who was on bail on indecent assault charges. On more than 13 occasions the doctor was allowed to see female patients alone despite being on strict supervision orders by the South Australian Medical Board. The registered nurse, who was supposed to be present during each of those consultations, later falsified records to show both she and the doctor had been obeying the chaperone order. The doctor was accused of indecently assaulting a 21-year-old female patient on July 22, 2012. He was arrested, charged and released on bail. The charges were later dropped by the Director of Public Prosecutions. While awaiting further legal proceedings the doctor was allowed to return to work on July 31, after accepting voluntary conditions with the medical board. He was only allowed to see female patients while in the presence of a chaperone and all the details of the interactions would be forwarded to the medical board. In August, 2012, the nurse agreed to be the chaperone for the doctor but over the next year, on at least 13 different occasions, she failed to attend the consultations. The nurse signed the chaperone log after the consultations and did not ask patients to confirm she had been present. The nurse admitted her conduct and told the South Australia Health Practitioners Tribunal that she was “extremely remorseful” for her conduct. The Tribunal heard that the nurse was dividing her time between a medical practice and a pathology group. The nurse also said she had no discussions with the doctor about how the supervision would work day-to-day. The doctor was “dismissive” of her attempts to broach the subject. On February 24, 2014, the Director of Public Prosecutions discontinued the charges against the doctor. The Tribunal ruled that the nurses actions constituted professional misconduct. “The Tribunal considers that the breaches of the undertakings, and the fact that there were repeated breaches, which also involved falsification of entries, amounted to a grave departure from the high professional standard expected of an experienced registered nurse,” Tribunal President Michael Ardlie said. Mr Ardlie also said there was a power imbalance between the nurse and doctor. The nurse was suspended from practising for two months, was fined $2,000 in legal costs and will be required to undergo further training.
July 12, 2018
A s.185 (Enterprise agreement) application from Leongatha Healthcare Services Trust T/A Leongatha Healthcare Pty Ltd for its Leongatha Healthcare Services Trust Practice Nurses Enterprise Agreement 2017 has been ratified by Fair Work Commissioner Gregory in Melbourne in 11 July 2018.
July 11, 2018
A s.185 (Enterprise agreement) application from Global Diagnostics (Australia) Pty Ltd T/A Global Diagnostics Australia for its Global Diagnostics (Australia) Pty Ltd Sonographers Enterprise Agreement 2018 has been granted by Fair Work Commissioner Lee sitting in Melbourne on 10 July 2018.
July 11, 2018
Five aged care workers from South Australia have been selected to visit Japan in October as part of a provider exchange program. The biannual exchange is a partnership between aged care providers the ACH Group in South Australia and Sun-Life in Japan.
July 11, 2018
A s.225 (Enterprise agreement) termination request by Daniels Health Services Pty Ltd for its Sterihealth ACT Enterprise Agreement 2014 has been agreed by Senior Deputy President Hamberger in Sydney on 10 July 2018.
July 11, 2018
A male nurse who squeezed a student’s breast and touched her vagina while demonstrating how to conduct a head to toe patient assessment and then said she could “sit on his face” has had his registration suspended for two months. The man, who also fondled an unconscious female patient’s breasts while she was in the intensive care unit at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, was recently reprimanded by a tribunal for engaging in professional misconduct. The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia took Alfredo Crocetti to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal over the two incidents, which happened in 2012 and 2014. Mr Crocetti came to the attention of the professional authority after he inappropriately put his hand inside a student’s bra, removed the cup, touched and squeezed her bare breast while teaching an acute care class at Victoria University in 2014. During the “demonstration” of a head to toe assessment on a patient, the tribunal heard that Mr Crocetti put his hand down the woman’s outer leg garment before touching her inner thighs and vagina over her underpants. Mr Crocetti also removed his shirt so the student could touch his bare torso as part of the “assessment” and made sexually suggestive comments, including “you can sit on my face if you like”. Another student was present at the time. The matter was first raised with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency by the director of learning and teaching in the College of Health and Biomedicine at Victoria University. The subsequent investigation raised separate concerns about Mr Crocetti’s behaviour while he was working an overnight shift in the intensive care unit at Royal Melbourne Hospital in 2012. The tribunal heard that Mr Crocetti was standing next to the bed of an unconscious patient when he placed his hands on her bare breasts while the sheet was arranged near her waist. The touching was without clinical justification, the tribunal heard. In a joint ruling, the tribunal’s members found that Mr Corcetti’s conduct was a “fundamental breach” of the trust patients place in nurses charged with their care. “He did not actively preserve the dignity of his patient or recognise her vulnerability and powerlessness. The patient was unconscious,” they said. “It also caused distress to nurse colleagues who observed the conduct.” Mr Corcetti’s behaviour while teaching student nurses at Victoria University was described as “an abuse of his position of trust and authority”. “[It] represented a gross lack of respect for the students under his supervision and disregard for his important role as a student nurse educator,” the tribunal found. Mr Crocetti agreed to the statement of facts presented to the tribunal. He had initially sought to deny or justify the student allegation and argued that the incident which took place in the intensive care unit two years earlier had been dealt with by the Royal Melbourne Hospital. Once returning from his two-month suspension, Mr Crocetti will not be allowed to have face-to-face contact with patients for an extra four months. He is also banned from teaching for another 12 months. Before resuming contact with patients, Mr Crocetti must also undertake four hours of education on the topic of “identifying and maintaining professional boundaries”. Mr Crocetti, a registered nurse since 1990, was working at a general practice in North Melbourne, where his contact with patients had been supervised while the mattter has been resolved.
July 10, 2018
The Independent Education Union of Australia and The Baptist Union of Queensland – Carinity are in a s.739 (Application to deal with a dispute) in front of the Fair Work Commissioner Booth in his Brisbane chambers at 2.30pm
