Media release – Health and Community Services Union, 15 June 2021
Occupational therapists launch action over ongoing failure to recruit essential health professionals
Occupational therapists will today begin a community campaign to highlight the ongoing and chronic service shortfalls in the north of the state.
If there is no immediate action to address the issue it is likely that workers will be forced to withdraw all services from the John L Grove Rehabilitation Centre as the Department of Health continues to fail to recruit an appropriately experienced supervisor.
“Tasmania has real challenges in recruiting and retaining Occupational therapists, particularly Senior Occupational Therapists,” said HACSU State Secretary Tim Jacobson. “Occupational therapists have warned for over two years that services would be under threat due to Tasmania’s inability to recruit and retain staff.”
The situation has only deteriorated since 2019, when OTs at the LGH had to advise executive management services would be completely withdrawn from a number of units and wards in the hospital and a limited service would be provided elsewhere due to an inability to meet the demand.
Occupational therapists provide an essential service which helps people to learn new ways of doing things, regain skills and develop new ones, use materials or equipment that makes life easier, and adapt their environment to work better for them at work, home, and in the community.
Their work keeps people out of hospitals, gets patients out of hospitals more quickly and saves our community untold amounts of money from unnecessary acute care.
“This campaign will see occupational therapists telling their stories to alert the community to the fact that their health service is not delivering the outcomes that it could, and should,” said Tim Jacobson.
“Workers will be talking to patients and their families and the wider community and encouraging them to contact the Minister to demand better.”
LGH Occupational therapists, patients and their families will be holding a media conference today at 11am outside the John L Grove Rehabilitation Centre (33 Howick St, South Launceston).
