A WAGES blow-out of $140,000 looms for South West Healthcare if the state government does not inject more money to cover extra penalty rates incurred in the new public holiday declared for Easter Sunday.
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Hospital management has confirmed it will face a substantial extra liability on its balance sheet — $140,000 in penalty rates.
Portland District Health will be forced to find an additional $30,000 to staff the public holiday shifts on April 4.
Other hospitals are also grappling with how to handle the looming hike in wages for the holiday weekend.
South West Coast MP Denis Napthine raised the issue in Parliament on Thursday and asked the government if it would provide extra cash in allocations to hospitals to cover the impost.
He said his government had allocated substantial funds for hospitals in the electorate, but this did not include provisions to cover the additional penalty rates triggered by the Labor government’s decision to declare Easter Sunday a public holiday.
“Hospitals and aged-care facilities should not be using their operating budgets — funding that is allocated to provide vital health services — to cover this increase in employment cost due to Labor’s decision,” Dr Napthine said.
“I ask, given the government’s commitment to penalty rates, will the government guarantee to provide the full amount of the additional money required by public hospitals and aged care services in my electorate to meet the additional costs?” he said.
Dr Napthine said the government must also ensure additional health funding was budgeted for the new AFL grand final holiday, scheduled for the Friday before the premiership contest in September.
“The state government must commit funding for our health services to cover these new public holidays. It must ensure that health services are not forced to take funding away from important health services to cover increased staffing costs for Labor’s new public holidays,” he said.
Health Minister Jill Hennessy would not say if the government planned to provide funding to hospitals to cover the unbudgeted holiday.
“Our paramedics and nurses work long, unsociable hours, covering shifts day and night to save lives and support people at their time of need,” she said in a statement.
“They deserve to be fairly compensated for and respected through penalty rates and shift loadings.”