Media release – Health and Community Services Union (HACSU), 15 February 2023
Radiation Therapists launch industrial action as cancer treatment pulled from NWRH
Radiation therapists across the state have today launched their first full day of fresh industrial action in response to the government’s refusal to come to the table to fix major issues with the Radiation Therapists Agreement – among which is the recruitment and retention crisis facing radiation therapy in Tasmania.
Whilst Tasmania has the second-highest rate of cancer diagnosis in Australia, a machine used in cancer treatment currently sits unused at the North West Regional Hospital because the health service is unable to staff it with the pay and conditions currently on offer to radiation therapists.
Cancer patients in the northwest are now put on a waiting list or sent to Launceston due to reduced capacity to provide treatment in-region.
“Radiation therapists are simply able to get a better deal elsewhere, so that’s where they’re going,” said HACSU Industrial Manager Robbie Moore. “Pulling cancer treatment from one area because there aren’t enough staff to provide the services means that there’s less capacity across the whole state to provide this vital treatment. It’s genuinely very scary.”
“The government have shown nothing but disrespect to our radiation therapists,” said Robbie Moore. “They won’t even afford them the same respect they’ve given to other allied health professionals, who were paid interim wage increases. Radiation therapists have missed out. It adds insult to injury when we’re already struggling to retain staff.”
Radiation therapists have commenced escalated industrial action, including stopping work alongside other allied health professionals and refusing to process patients’ bills.
