A series of serious assaults on nurses has forced Canberra Health Services to review and update its safety procedures. Nurses and allied health workers conducting home visits have been put at significant risk, according to the ACT's safety regulator. But the sector's unions say they've been raising the safety problems for years.
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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