United Voice News
LHMU backs anti-privatisation bill
The LHMU fully supports Labor’s Private Members Bill which, if passed, will make it illegal for the Barnett government to privatise health and school services.
The Barnett government is planning to privatise the Fiona Stanley Hospital, Midland Health Campus, Albany Regional Hospital and the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children.
At the announcement of the Bill outside the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital (SCGH), Dave Kelly, secretary of the LHMU, said that history had shown that the privatisation of essential hospital and school services did not work.
'Disaster'
“In the 1990s, private contractors were brought in to run orderly services at the SCGH and it was a complete disaster,” he said.
“The service was compromised because the number of orderlies was reduced from 110 to 56. There was chaos with sick patients having to wait for hours in corridors after they had simple procedures like x-rays because there was no one available to take them back to the wards.
“After the cleaning service was privatised at the Royal Perth Hospital we saw an increase in outbreaks like MRSA, Golden Staph and Norovirus. Large areas of the hospital had to be closed down and special cleaning teams sent in which ended up costing the taxpayer over $2m to contain and eliminate the outbreak.
“To say that cleaning in hospitals is not a core service is outrageous. Every function within schools and hospitals is integrated, they work together to provide health care and education. Doctors, nurses, cleaners, admin – all work together to provide high standards of care.
'Public accountability'
“By privitising parts of these services like hospital cleaning, the state government is taking apart the system and undermining levels of care. The people who work in hospitals and schools work as a team, if they are accountable to different employers, public accountability and responsibility is lost.
“The Liberal government of the 1990s also privatised school cleaning. The workforce was cut by 25% leaving our schools dirty and creating more work for education assistants and teachers.
“Once again, this Liberal government has a privatisation agenda. Public ownership of essential services is crucial because this provides for a system of accountability and responsibility.
“We hope the Bill will force the Barnett government into a public debate on this issue and that all MPs, including back bench Liberal ones, will be made accountable by their electorate on this issue.”
