HACSU MEMBERS WORKING IN CHILD AND ADOLESCENT MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES (CAMHS) CANNOT ACCEPT THE GOVERNMENT’S DECISION TO CHRONICALLY UNDERFUND AND SHORTSTAFF MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES. INDUSTRIAL ACTION WILL COMMENCE THIS WEEK, IN AN EFFORT TO PROTECT WORKERS FROM UNSUSTAINABLE WORKLOADS, AND HIGHLIGHT THE DESPERATE NEED FOR INCREASED FUNDING.
In recent weeks there has been a renewed focus on the mental health needs of young Tasmanians, in response to a coronial inquiry into a spate of suicides. Programs for youth “at risk”, outreach and community-based services have all been shown to be severely understaffed and inadequately resourced, and Tasmania has the lowest per capita funding for youth mental health services in Australia.
“Our Members in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) have drawn a line in the sand. They cannot – and will not – accept the Government’s decision to abandon Tasmanian youth who require mental health services,” said HACSU Assistant State Secretary Robbie Moore.
“For years workers have been increasing their own workloads to try and meet demand – but it is impossible to sustain. Their own manager admits that staff now have caseloads that are 5 times higher than recommended.
“This government has a slash and burn health policy, with no regard for the level of need. We can confidently say that inadequate funding costs lives. To entrench this approach as policy is utterly unacceptable.”
HACSU Delegate Ben McGregor says “We have always been under-staffed, but in the last year waiting lists for CAMHS have exploded. One of the reasons for this is the current policy of non-replacement of staff who are on leave. When you have a small workforce, a failure to backfill can have devastating consequences. This is a fixable problem. We have professional and ethical responsibilities to respond appropriately, and we cannot do so on our current staffing levels. As a result, union members have decided to stop non-essential data collection, reducing caseloads to acceptable levels, and to roll out stop work meetings.”
“Our Members do not take industrial action on a whim. They are at the coalface of what has been described in the Coroners Court as a “mental health services crisis”, said Robbie Moore. “We fully endorse our Members taking action to try and force the Government to shoulder its responsibilities. Tasmanians who need help, should be helped.
“The most worrying thing is that service failure is happening throughout the health system. We have seen health professionals slashed, preventative health is basically defunded from July this year, and we have yet to see the impact of hundreds of more jobs being ripped out of public health.
“Today we hear the testimony of mental health workers, who know their unsustainable workloads result in despair and in some cases death.
Unfortunately there are similar stories of service failure throughout Tasmania’s health system. It’s time to start laying the blame at the feet of those who control the purse strings – a Government which lacks decent health policies and has no moral compass. We call on Michael Ferguson to fix this problem now, before more lives are lost.”
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HACSU_Background_Information_-_Mental_Health_Workers_Industrial_Action_Feb_2015.pdf
Robbie Moore, HACSU
