House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2015-12-02 Daily Xml

Contents

Health Review

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:15): Supplementary: does the minister confirm then that, in the reduction in acute ward nursing services, those nurses who will lose their job there will be placed in a community or other nursing service at no less pay?

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Health Industries) (15:15): I can make quite clear that no nurse is going to be sacked. We need more nurses in our health system. We need them doing different things beyond just traditional ward roles. There will be nursing staff, of course, who we will be asking to take on new and different roles and expanded roles.

I don't think under the EB we would be able to move them into a role where they would have a reduced salary. I will have it double-checked, but I'm very confident that simply the enterprise bargain would not enable us to transfer someone to a position where they would be on a reduced salary. I certainly would not expect that, but I'm happy to double-check just for the sake of certainty.