Health And Safety Strike By Clinical Records Staff

“Clinical Records staff are apologising in advance for any inconvenience to the public and clinicians at Christchurch Hospital when they begin a health and safety strike this Wednesday (1 December),” said Martin Cooney, Organiser of the National Union of Public Employees (NUPE) today.

“Clinical Records staff have been forced to take action to protect their health and safety under Section 84 of the ERA to deal with the impact of the cutting of 12 positions in the Clinical Records Department (CRD),” said Martin Cooney, Organiser of the National Union of Public Employees (NUPE) today.

“In February 2003, an investigation found serious health and safety concerns in the CRD,” said Martin Cooney. “The reduction of 12 full time equivalent staff members in the CRD over the last two months has made that worse, with staff having to do their old job and design and implement new systems. While temporary staff have been taken on, the main load still falls on the permanent staff remaining. This is creating an unacceptable increase in workload and stress on those remaining staff and leading to unacceptable mistakes.”

“The final straw was unsubstantiated and general allegations of ‘horizontal violence’ made against staff in the Department,” said Martin Cooney. “Instead of offering time off to those staff who are feeling the intense pressure, some managers have chosen a very punitive approach.”

“Our Union has compiled a list of tasks that will not be undertaken by our members from Wednesday,” said Martin Cooney. “Members appreciate that this may cause delays to service to clinicians and the public, and apologise in advance, but feel they have to protect themselves and their patients.”

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