You might have noticed that the Union has been doing a lot of talking about pathology of late.
And there’s a very good reason for that.
With greater attention being placed on pathology, the Union is taking advantage of this by ensuring that the growing, understaffed workforce issues are highlighted. Issues like sky-rocketing workloads in the face of ever increasing demand; fewer people doing the work and longer hours at work are being effectively ignored by all levels of government in the pursuit of a ‘sustainable’ healthcare system.
Let’s not forget that one of the most important barometers of all of these issues, unpaid work, continues to steadily increase.
With 200 signatures so far we’re making progress on reaching our target of 1,000 signatures.
The Union’s campaign to highlight the growing crisis in pathology services is gaining strong momentum as members continue to sign the petition.
As a result of what can only be described as poor governance and management, pathology standards set out in contracts with public hospitals are not being met with quality standards declining and turn-around times for some tests being allowed to increase.
But as we further expose the growing crisis in public pathology, we are able to point out that there are similar workforce issues affecting other disciplines.
Given pathology is in many respects the bellwether of what is happening across all public health services, we are confident that any resolutions that emerge will apply equally to other disciplines.
Pathology is giving us a platform to explore the increasing difficulty members are having in completing their work within work times due to a failure of management to address rapidly growing workloads through ensuring the right mix of qualified staff.
Download the petition and get your colleagues to sign it.
After you’ve filled up a page with signatures make sure you send the petition back to us at:
Level 1, 62 Lygon St
Carlton South VIC 3053
