Fiona Stanley, Royal Perth and Fremantle hospitals hardest hit in staff cuts
November 8, 2015
REGINA TITELIUSHealth ReporterPerthNow


METROPOLITAN hospitals are bracing for massive staff cuts with the Health Department imposing “budget management strategies”.

Fiona Stanley, Royal Perth and Fremantle hospitals will be the worst hit, with the Health Services Union expecting about 500 jobs to be shed at Royal Perth and similar numbers at Fiona Stanley.   

The union says its previous predictions of about 1000 job cuts “across the board” now appeared “conservative” and it urged the department to “come clean”.   

The union says job uncertainty is causing widespread stress, with some nursing staff left in tears this week.

The Sunday Times understands the department has asked hospitals to finalise “budget management strategies” by the end of January.

HSU state secretary Dan Hill said the Barnett Government’s midyear report, due next month, would be telling and he expected hospital budgets would be left in tatters.   


A department spokeswoman said the South Metropolitan Health Service, covering Fiona Stanley, Fremantle and Royal Perth hospitals, would “try to ensure permanent staff can be accommodated in the revised workforce”.


“RPH, Fiona Stanley and Fremantle Hospital are overstaffed for their activity levels and exceeding their budget,” she said.

“Hospitals around Australia have shown it is possible to maintain the highest possible standards using lower staffing levels than currently in place.”

Mr Hill said a recent survey showed that 60 per cent of staff experienced work related stresses adversely affecting their mental health.   

“The Government and the department need to come clean on it as quickly as possible and remove the uncertainty,” he said.

Meanwhile, the completion date for the new Perth Children’s Hospital continues to be pushed back. The department said “it anticipated construction will be completed early in 2016”.

Mr Hill said even an optimistic March completion, plus a five-month commissioning period, would shift the opening date to August.

WA Health Director General Dr David Russell-Weisz said on Sunday that he could not put an absolute figure on job cuts within the health department.   

“We know we are over staffed and over budget at some of our hospitals and we know we are more expensive to deliver care than we are with some of our Eastern States counterparts,” he said.

“We have to look at how we can be more efficient and that’s not just about job cuts it is about simple things like rostering, over time, the use of agencies and casuals and where there are too many staff it may be looking at some fixed term appointments, but it is not all about job cuts.”

He said some departments were increasing staff while others had to decrease.

Time to cut the outrageous and unaffordable tax exemption on super. That will raise $50Bn and rising steeply!

So you agree Howard was a crap PM and economic manager? Profligate with other peoples’ money?

Notice that that “lefty” PM, Malodorous, is not doing a damn thing about this increasingly unaffordable rort? Not so Lefty, eh? Rather neoconservative in fact, like the Greens and Libs.

??? Totalitarian powers not needed. It will be necessary at some stage to end the bleeding from the Budget of tens of billions of dollars going to the top 10% by income. In five or six years the amount will be over $100Bn, John Useless Howard’s work.

I re-post the following here, as it is relevant!

perceptions_now wrote on Nov 8^th, 2015 at 7:49pm:

Welcome to third world Australia.


It's looking grim for our baby boomers, no nursing home beds, no hospital beds......maybe they can send the old and frail to Manus Island to die.

Swagman wrote on Nov 9^th, 2015 at 10:47am:


As usual Swagi, you, like most Politicians, only tell a part of the story!

I repost the following here, as it is relevant!

perceptions_now wrote on Oct 18^th, 2015 at 12:25pm:

Ex Dame Pansi wrote on Nov 9^th, 2015 at 11:31am:


  "poo"  your word not mine..But if the cap fits