Maitland Hospital battling to stay in public hands

BY JOSH SIM

Despite today's announcement by the State Government to keep Wyong Hospital in public hands, Maitland Hospital's future remains uncertain.

Maitland is one of three public hospitals, including Bowral and Shellharbour, that Unions NSW are campaigning against proposed privatisation.

Secretary for Unions NSW, Mark Morey says the privatisation of a hospital already run on a tight budget means any new owner would have to make cuts, either to jobs or patient care, to turn a profit.

'Public health should be in public hands, and it's not fair to privatise it and reduce services for working people,' Mr. Morey said.

'NSW is growing and it needs investment in its hospitals, not cost cutting sell-offs.'

Morey has urged any Hunter resident that feels strongly about keeping Maitland Hospital public to contact their local MP and strongly object to the privatisation of their hospital.

Maitland Hospital. Source: Singleton Argus

Workers have their say in compensation inquiry

BY JESSICA ROUSE

The Unions NSW inquiry into the impact of compensation cuts on workers was held in Newcastle this morning.

A report released in June by Macquarie University's Centre for Workforce Futures, found the limited progress in returning sick and injured employees to work and further those who did return, suffered regular bullying and harassment.

Giving workers a successful return to work was one of the stated aims of the State Government's cuts to workers compensation four years ago, but Union Assistant Secretary Emma Maiden says nothing has changed.

"We're asking workers to come forward from the Hunter area and tell us about their experiences of return to work under the workers compensation scheme and let me say the stories are heartbreaking."

"We're hearing about people who are close to suicide because of the way their employers are treating them and handling their case."

Workers in the Hunter are encouraged to share their experiences and find out more at: www.unionsnsw.org.au .