The Tasmanian Government is committed to reducing the pandemic pressure on our hospitals, in particular on our nursing and midwifery workforce.
The Department of Health has been working with unions to implement workforce initiatives to ease this pressure, which is being felt in states and territories right across the country.
A COVID-19 Escalation Allowance Agreement was recently registered in the Tasmanian Industrial Commission after agreement with a number of unions, including the ANMF and HACSU.
This daily payment is payable to specified staff for Level 3 COVID escalations that last for 30 days and longer and Level 4 escalations in defined public health service settings.
The Premier has listened to feedback from the Tasmanian Health Service and Ambulance Tasmania and has this afternoon put forward a revised proposal to all union parties involved in the current agreement to broaden the application of the payment to all frontline public sector health staff, and make it certain and final.
It has been proposed that the Department of Health replace and encompass the existing COVID allowance with a one-off $2,000 payment under a new Frontline Health COVID-19 Allowance to relevant Health Service and Ambulance Tasmania staff, with the payment including any back pay owing under the COVID-19 Escalation Agreement.
Where the accrued COVID-19 Escalation Allowance is higher than the $2,000 payment, then the Government will pay the higher amount.
This new offer includes Tasmanian Health Service (THS) Nurses, Midwives, Doctors, Allied Health professionals, Orderlies, Ward Clerks, Food Services, Cleaners and Ambulance Tasmania Paramedics working in Hospitals, inpatient and ancillary health care areas during the pandemic, but not staff in areas such as HR, Infrastructure or Finance.
This one-off payment would apply to around 9,500 FTE staff in the Tasmanian Health Service, seeing an additional 3,500 FTE staff included in the new proposed agreement and responds directly to feedback that it be broad-based and remove any uncertainty of payment due to the timing of escalation or de-escalation of our hospitals and health services.
The payment of this one-off Frontline Health COVID-19 Allowance would replace the existing COVID-19 Escalation Allowance Agreement and be paid on the basis that all relevant industrial action ceases and that relevant Unions accept the proposed workforce package. The Government’s original offer to bring forward the next round of negotiations for the Nursing and Midwifery Agreement also stands.
The workforce package originally proposed to the ANMF and HACSU is aimed at recruiting, recognising and retaining health care staff and includes:
While the unions consider our proposal, the Tasmanian Government is not waiting to act as we work to improve access and patient flow and assist in easing the pandemic workloads - both now and into the future.
Work is already underway to ease pressure on our hospital system and ensure Tasmanians can get the right care, in the right place, at the right time.
Staff are continuing to do a fantastic job in addressing the demand for health services and we pay tribute to their continued hard work and dedication to the Tasmanian community.
We look forward to continuing discussions with unions to find a resolution to staff concerns by the weeks end.