By CAMERON LUCADOU-WELLS
NURSES may take industrial action over unresolved safety concerns at Dandenong Hospital’s emergency department since a 2011 state inquiry into the problem.
Australian Nursing Federation state spokesman Paul Gilbert says a patient recently bit a ‘‘chunk’’ out of a nurse’s breast, the wound requiring plastic surgery. Two weeks ago, a nurse was threatened with a knife.
During a night shift on March 29, a senior nurse allegedly tackled an aggressive male intruder ‘‘shaping up to him’’ in the supposedly secure treatment cubicles.
The nurse, who has served at Dandenong Hospital for 16 years, was immediately disciplined and demoted from his supervisory and triage duties after the incident.
Mr Gilbert said the hospital’s internal review of the incident on April 19 found the nurse acted reasonably, found a security breach and staff lacked training to calm potentially violent situations.
“The nurse has been made a scapegoat,’’ Mr Gilbert said. “The hospital has criticised him for not following a Code Grey policy that doesn’t exist. He shouldn’t be criticised; the hospital should be ensuring a safe workplace.’’
At a union meeting last week, the hospital’s nurses called for their colleague’s reinstatement and a properly run Code Grey policy protocol — an emergency management response to a threat from violent patients or visitors.
The union claims the lack of protocol is noted in one of 12 recommendations from a 2011 state inquiry report into hospital violence and security arrangements that have not been implemented at the hospital.
Mr Gilbert said Monash Health, which runs Dandenong Hospital, was the only hospital network in the state not to have clear Code Grey protocols. He said there had been no ‘‘beefing up’’ of security since the inquiry.
“The security remains the worst we’ve seen. There’s no security guard inside the department. They place security in an area where they can’t see 90 per cent of the department’s cubicle area.
“The hospital’s own report [on the March 29 incident] shows organisational problems but there’s been no acceptance of these problems by the management, only blame for the nurse.’’
At the state inquiry, a Dandenong Hospital emergency nurse submitted her and colleagues were bitten, punched, slapped and had objects thrown at them by patients.
“They pull their IVs out and throw bloodstained cannulas, sharps — any kind of weapon they can get their hands on, such as chairs — at the nursing staff.”
A spokeswoman for Monash Health rejected the union’s claims about the March 29 incident.
She said it was inappropriate to comment further because the incident was being investigated internally and by Fair Work Australia.
Victorian Emergency Physicians Association member and emergency specialist George Douros said emergency staff would feel safe if there were adequate numbers of specifically trained security personnel in the department.
Allan Whitehead, president of Victorian Emergency Physicians Association, said emergency doctors were disappointed in the lack of government funding to improve hospital security since the inquiry.
Opposition health spokesman Gavin Jennings said the state government should re-invest the $21 million set aside for its abandoned proposal for armed guards in hospitals.
‘‘The Labor party thought [armed guards] was a bad idea but if you’re going to invest the $21 million it could be used for additional security staff not armed but trained to support the staff, or for training and protocols for hospital staff.’’
A spokeswoman for Health Minister David Davis did not respond by deadline.
