Health union members have walked off the job at the Royal Hobart Hospital in protest over what they say are planned cuts to the state’s cancer clinical trials unit.
The 30-minute stopwork meeting on Monday escalated a dispute over the state government’s apparent plan to slash staffing in the unit by 58%
Workers warn the cuts will devastate access to potentially lifesaving treatments for cancer patients who have exhausted conventional options.
“Behind every one of these clinical trials is a Tasmanian who has run out of conventional cancer treatment options,” HACSU state secretary Robbie Moore said.
“We’re talking about someone’s family member, friend, neighbour or work colleague holding on to hope. Cutting these jobs means cutting that hope.”
Both HACSU and the ANMF have launched coordinated industrial action, with further disputes lodged in the Tasmanian Industrial Commission.
ANMF Branch Secretary Emily Shepherd said the Department of Health’s approval committee has caused significant delays, leading to the withdrawal of fully funded trials.
“There have also been options for additional trials, which would have resulted in savings of up to $25,000 per patient,” she said.
“But to date, this has been ignored by the Department of Health.”
Deputy Premier Guy Barnett insisted no jobs would be lost as a result of the changes, with staff to be redeployed across the hospital system.
“Clinical trials, in terms of the use of those trials and those involved, goes up and down as those needs arise,” he said.
“But there’s nobody will lose their jobs in that regard.”
The unions argue the government’s focus on job redeployment and not investing in research misses the point entirely.
“If the Tasmanian government thinks that cutting the clinical trials unit is going to save them money, then it is deluded,” Shepherd said.
“Cuts to the trial unit will only result in a greater reliance on the Tasmanian government by the patients who would have been offered better quality of life or even a cure.”
The unions have called on Premier Jeremy Rockliff to immediately scrap the cuts and work collaboratively with clinical trials professionals.
A conciliation meeting in the Tasmanian Industrial Commission is scheduled for later this week.
