The Guardian 2 April, 2008
QNU demands remote area
nursing conditions be fixed
The Queensland Nurses’ Union (QNU) says Queensland Health has rectified a number of security problems at health facilities and nurse residences in the Torres Strait, but the absence of a working duress alarm system is still a major concern, the Queensland Nurses Union (QNU) said today.
During a QNU teleconference on March 25, nurses from a number of Torres Strait islands outlined the work done to-date to meet their concerns and the issues that still needed addressing as of yesterday.
The union gave Queensland Health until March 28 to rectify major shortcomings in safety and work conditions after the horrific treatment of a remote area nurse at Mabuiag Island in the Torres Straits. An internal health department report last month found that virtually all health services on Torres Strait islands are almost unliveable for health workers. In February the nurse was sent to Mabuiag Island to work there alone. She was then raped but was told by her director of nursing she should "put it behind her".
Furthermore, the facility on the island had no running water, intermittent power, no water to flush toilets, no locks on doors and windows, no screens and a broken security system. Queensland Health offered her no assistance or even a medical examination following the rape. Her partner had to pay $800 to charter a plane to get her off the island.
The QNU had threatened that if nurses decide not enough has been done they would start leaving their facilities and provide only a fly-in, fly-out service to most islands.
QNU Secretary, Gay Hawksworth, said more work had been done to fix various security and lighting problems at health facilities in the Torres Strait.
"The Health Minister also told us that three crews of carpenters and plumbers will be on the islands and they will stay until all their work is finished", Ms Hawksworth said.
"However, there are still serious problems with the duress alarm system on most islands and this is a key component on any proper security system for nurses."
Earlier in March the QNU said nurses reported that Badu Island was the only place where any concrete action has been taken recently to upgrade or repair security arrangements for nurses.
Ms Hawksworth pointed out that Queensland Health did an assessment in 2006 and yet those issues were still relevant. She said the repair people can start working on a list made by the union of jobs that needed to be done.
The union had demanded that at least three crews, each containing a carpenter, electrician, plumber and locksmith, be dispatched immediately to the Torres Strait to do a blitz of all the sites, and that Queensland Health should also arrange for a Telstra crew to go in and check and repair the phones at the same time.
The remote area nurses also want at least two nurses on site at all times at each island facility, something that can be easily arranged through nursing agencies and other sources.