A leaked copy of a report of the Your Voice in Health Survey for the Child and Adolescent Health Service highlights levels of morale are some of the worst across the public health sector in Australia.
“According to the damning report card only 43% of workers felt valued for the work that they do, a figure which has not only dropped by 6% in the last 12 months but trails the rest of the Australian public health sector by 16%,” Shadow Health Minister Libby Mettam said.
Overall, the survey indicated that over 30% of the answers were worse than the previous year and 53% were worse than scores across the Australian public health sector which are damning findings which highlight the McGowan Government’s failure in the health portfolio.
“Given the poor performance in staffing morale against other states and compared to last year, it is particularly concerning and will be exacerbated by the shocking treatment by the McGowan Government of health workers in the wake of the Aishwarya tragedy,” Ms Mettam said.
“We need to see an indication from the Minister for Health that they are committed to listening to the concerns of health workers instead of brushing them aside.
“We need a line in the sand which starts with addressing the red flags highlighted in this damning report.
“This is not just about supporting our health workers who are being asked to do more with less, but also ensuring that patient safety is optimised, which starts with looking after your workforce.”
Furthermore;
- Just 36% of health workers felt it was safe to speak up and challenge the way things are done in the organisation.
- Just 35% of workers in the Child and Adolescent Health Service felt valued in the workforce, a figure which trails even the poor overall report card in the health sector.
- Only 37% of health workers felt morale was good where they worked.
Overall, the survey indicated that over 30% of the answers were worse than the previous year and 53% were worse than scores across the Australian public health sector (page 05).
“The Labor Government has had more than four years to fix the staffing issues in our state’s hospitals,” Ms Mettam said.
“This has consistently been raised, but this Government has ignored the alarm bells, which has led to the tragedy surrounding Aishwarya Aswath.
“We are aware that heath workers at Perth Children’s Hospital had raised concerns regarding dangerous staffing levels on a number of occasions in the lead up to the Aishwarya tragedy, but were ignored.
“Quite clearly this poor treatment of health workers, the fact we have seen two protests in the wake of the Aishwarya tragedy is indicative of the level of discontent amongst this workforce.
“The McGowan Governments response to this report which was to effectively to throw junior health workers under the bus to APHRA, instead of acknowledging the staffing levels were an issue is a further blow to health worker morale.
“It is astounding that the Minister continues with denials and deflections instead of acknowledging the staffing shortages, resulting in our overworked frontline health workers being tired and demoralised.”
