Page 2845 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 17 September 2014
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contravention of the act occurring or having occurred and there is a strong belief that it is likely to occur again, as per division 5.7, section 90 of the ACT Work Health and Safety ACT 2011.
This is no small matter in a facility which I am sure the minister sees as a jewel in the crown of her portfolio achievements. Nurses are too scared to go to work and have lost faith in the ability of the minister to sort out the problems. The law has been contravened and the workplace is not safe. It is not safe.
It is interesting that the minister yesterday jibed us in the opposition across the chamber by asking us how many shifts we have done in the facility. I have toured the facility. We too were warned about the threat that being in the unit involved. However I put the question back on the minister: how many shifts would you be prepared to work in the facility? My guess is none.
This unit was only opened in April 2012 and it seems to never have been in any way a safe working environment. It is a failure of the system or of the model of care that such high levels of assault are occurring and have been from day one. The facility is evidently not being run properly.
We do not know from the reporting the precise events which have taken place in this facility. We only know the category of incident. However, if we take a look at reports from Victoria and New Zealand, assaults in their reporting include staff being bitten, punched in the face, threatened with broken glass, lacerated, having bones broken and being knocked unconscious. I would like to think that the incidents here were not of this nature, but it seems to be commonplace in such facilities.
In the Age newspaper late last year an article was published about Victoria called “Mental health nurses punched, bitten as work violence rises”. In the article Henrietta Cook reported that people go to work not knowing if they are going to be assaulted on the day. The article also reported an incident where a medical practitioner was chased about the room with a piece of glass.
In New Zealand, as per an article in the Daily Mail on 14 June this year, the New Zealand Nurses Organisation reported that there are measures that can be taken to reduce incidents, including improving the line of sight around the facility and the layout. However, the New Zealand Nurses Organisation also said that they are having to convince the nurses that they represent that violence is not just a part of the job.
However, the nurses at the adult mental health facility here in our city do not need convincing. They have called in WorkSafe because they are dissatisfied that the government is not acting fast enough. And I agree with them. ACT Health claim to be working on the issues. They have stated that early recognition of psychological distress by staff is an area they can improve in, that reducing the acuity of those in the unit would assist and that staff having better rostering and training would assist. That all sounds very good but also pretty basic for a facility such as this.
Are there not currently systems or training for the early recognition of psychological distress? Presumably the concern regarding acuity is that the secure mental health
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