- Nick Miller
- November 26, 2008
ELECTIVE surgery and outpatient appointments at some Victorian hospitals could be hit by cancellations for the rest of the week, because of industrial action by imaging staff.
Employees of Symbion Imaging, which does X-rays, ultrasounds and other medical imaging for the Northern and Broadmeadows public hospitals, the Epworth in Richmond and 30 other private hospitals and clinics, voted to take industrial action yesterday.
From today until the end of Friday, striking staff will work on imaging only for emergency patients, said Health Services Union national secretary Kathy Jackson. "If it is elective, rather than urgent, it won't be done," she said.
Symbion's staff, including radiographers, administrative workers and technicians, were frustrated by a long-running enterprise bargaining process.
"This is one of the worst employers I have ever dealt with," Ms Jackson said. "For months, they were not prepared to negotiate, then last week they offered a 2 per cent first-and-final offer. They are ripping their staff off." The Age attempted to contact Symbion and its parent, Primary Health Care, but calls were not returned.
However, hospitals contacted by The Age differed on the expected effect of the action.
A spokesman for Northern Health, which includes the Northern Hospital and Broadmeadows, said imaging staff involved in the action had agreed to perform X-rays that were deemed "medically urgent".
"We don't know what will be deemed medically urgent — it will be discussed between medical staff and radiologists," he said. "There will be no impact on emergency or ICU (intensive care) or (operating) theatre. It will be more other inpatient and outpatient services deemed not medically urgent." He believed elective surgery would go ahead.
A spokeswoman for the Epworth said: "We believe there will be no major disruption."
