00:00Nurses in the capital are in danger.
00:05There are firearms present, guns, bows and arrows.
00:09That danger is not on the ward.
00:12Some nurses have told me that they've pulled knives out of couches.
00:15It's in the homes of Canberrans.
00:17So we've had members who have had the front door opened
00:20and the patient or a family member may be holding a machete or a knife or an axe, a chain.
00:28So far this year there have been four assaults during home visits.
00:32These are serious assaults that have occurred.
00:35Serious enough to require medical assessment.
00:37We did offer occupational violence leave and that was certainly taken up.
00:41I wasn't surprised but obviously it's awful.
00:47The nursing union says high risk home visits aren't new.
00:51Over many years we have continued to raise safety concerns.
00:57which lead to the risk of assaults.
01:02Canberra Health Services says it acknowledges that problems have been raised in the past
01:07and that processes have been adjusted accordingly.
01:09CPSU members at Canberra Health Services have been raising pretty serious safety concerns
01:16about home visits for more than two years now.
01:19In staff meetings, in union meetings, with management all the way up to executive level at CHS
01:25and we weren't getting any traction until WorkSafe came in.
01:29In March, Canberra Health Services, as required by law, reported these serious assaults to the ACT's regulator, WorkSafe.
01:37In reviewing the incidents, it found
01:39The situations resulted in physical and psychological harm to the affected workers
01:44and had serious potential to result in the death of a person.
01:49As part of the assessment, WorkSafe issued seven safety notices to Canberra Health Services related to home visit protocols.
01:56Among them it found risk assessments used for home visits were ineffective
02:00and duress alarm systems carried by workers were unreliable and unsafe.
02:05That's the finding of WorkSafe and we don't step away from that at all.
02:09We've taken that on board and that's why we've been working so closely with the regulator to improve our practices.
02:15It shouldn't take a WorkSafe notice to get some action.
02:19Last year there were 43 instances of occupational violence on Canberra Health Services workers.
02:25Six of those were assaults on nurses or allied health workers delivering care in the home.
02:30In March, Dave Pepper wrote to staff acknowledging and apologising for the 43 incidents in 2024.
02:37Nurses and midwives, they don't want to hear apologies for it after the fact.
02:42They want to see some action.
02:44They want to know that their employer is going to do something to address the assaults in a timely manner.
02:51Canberra Health Services has now completed the mandatory changes to its procedures issued by the regulator,
02:56including a review of the duress alert system used by workers.
03:00We recognise that there are some changes that need to be made,
03:03but I would also note that our staff undertake about 120,000 home visits every year.
03:10The vast majority of those are positive interactions with our community.
03:15That's actually a really terrible way of looking at it, particularly when it comes to the safety of people's lives.
03:23WorkSafe is now satisfied with the changes made by Canberra Health Services,
03:27with all seven notices issued in March now being lifted.
03:30Our members love the job they do.
03:32They care about going into the community and delivering really high-quality healthcare services.
03:37We just want workers to be able to go and do their job and come home safely.
03:41Care in the home, but at a cost.
03:43Care in the home, if they have all been here at a cost.
03:44Care in the home, but at a cost.
03:45Care in the home, but at a cost.
03:46Care in the home, but at a cost.
03:48Care in the home, and at a cost.
03:52Care in the home, etc.
03:53Care in the home, but at a cost.
03:56Care in the home, or at a cost.
03:57Care in the home, i'm much more worried about wah- nivela,
03:59more expensive than two times.
04:02Care in the home, ever since a self-19 character or a virus,
04:03Care out for everyone, I'd этого care.
04:05Care in a database at a cost.
04:07Care in the Yeah, even a probably a little bit better for a price at a cost.
04:09Care in the home, and the best employees are still there for theirこんにちは
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