This is a major victory for the In Public Hands campaign and indicates that the government should also do a u-turn on its deeply unpopular privatisation plans for the new Fiona Stanley, Midland Health Campus and children’s hospital.
“The previous privatisation of Royal Perth Hospital was disastrous for patients,” said Carolyn Smith, assistant secretary of the LHMU. “The inadequate cleaning of wards contributed to an outbreak of VRE in the hospital in 2001. The cleaning services at the time were privatised and the state government spent almost $3m of taxpayers money on the clean up operation.

“The community remembers this and has been sending a clear message to government that they don’t want privatisation in their hospitals again. Maybe their u-turn at Albany hospital indicates that finally they’re listening.”
Originally the government planned to privatise non–clinical support services including laundry, catering, cleaning and orderly services at the new Albany Health Campus, which is due to be fully operational in 2013.
The call for private firms to bid to run these services and to build the hospital were first put out on March 11  with a closing date of April 13.
But in an email to staff sent out late on Thursday, Ian Smith, regional director of the WA Country Health Service – Great Southern, said laundry, catering, cleaning, orderly and some core engineering services would remain in public hands in the new hospital.
He also said the public sector “will build the support services infrastructure required in the new facility”.

'Ripple effect'
Greg Croston, an enrolled nurse at the hospital said the backflip was a victory for the whole of Albany.
“Any job losses caused by privatisation would have had a ripple effect on the whole of the community. The public understands this and that’s why they have been signing our petition in their droves.
“The staff are very, very happy at this stage.
“Management said there was very strong contention from both inside and outside the state applying for contracts but the government decided to keep the services in-house.
“Of course, our battle isn’t over yet. We don’t want to see any services in the hospital being privatised or any other hospitals in the state so we will keep putting pressure on the government.”
Ms Smith added: “This is major backflip by the government who are clearly beginning to see the error of its ways when it comes to the privatisation of essential services in hospitals.
“We were very concerned for the future of staff at the hospital – as many as 100 could have lost their jobs if private contractors had come in to run these services. Those left could have faced lower rates of pay and worse conditions because private companies prioritise the bottom line above all else.

Campaign continues
“We were also concerned this privatisation could have badly affected standards of patient care. Hospitals work best when they work as a team, an integrated team - the doctors, the nursing staff, the support services."
Unfortunately the government is still planning to privatise some clinical services at Albany, including medical imaging, renal dialysis and chemotherapy and so the campaign will continue.
Ms Smith added that while the Barnett government’s plans for the future of the hospital and its staff still remained unclear, the backflip showed LHMU members’ continued pressure was working.
“Members have been collecting thousands of signatures on petitions, speaking to the media and writing to their MPs to ensure Colin Barnett and Kim Hames know exactly what they think of the plans.
“The government is still planning to privatise the Fiona Stanley hospital, Midland Health Campus and the new children’s hospital so our campaign with the Health Services Union will continue.”

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