As an incentive to stay in the Victorian hospital system during the busy winter flu season, frontline public health workers will get $3,000 bonuses.
Employees at public hospitals and ambulances in Victoria will receive the money, as well as free meals, if they perform night shifts, as a result of the NSW government pledging wage increases and a similar incentive to NSW health workers.
The incentive was unveiled as part of a $353 million program to help frontline employees by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews.
‘Our employees are our health system’s greatest asset, and this is simply one method for us to recognize and encourage their work,’ he said.
‘It’s also a fundamental admission of the enormous pressure, the huge struggle that our health-care system is facing right now.’
This approach is intended to keep personnel in the Victorian health system during the next winter months.
Experts predict that this winter will be devastating, with more cases of Covid and flu than ever before. There are 49,347 active Covid cases in Victoria.
‘It’s all about encouraging individuals to pick up a few extra shifts if they can, to go from part-time to possibly working some additional hours,’ Mr Andrews explained.
Thousands of employees in both clinical and non-clinical roles, including those in housekeeping, food services, and laundry services, will get the payout.
Free lunches will be provided to people who work overnight beginning in July and will remain until the end of 2022.
To be eligible for the payment, workers must be hired by a public health agency by July 1 and still be working by September 30.
As part of the $353 million package from the Victorian government, the first $1,500 payment will be made on August 15 and the second at the end of September.
Health Minister Martin Foley said, “Healthcare personnel have done a fantastic job throughout the pandemic, and I want to congratulate them for the extraordinary work they continue to do under tremendous circumstances.”
John Wilson, the former president of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, recently highlighted worker burnout and declining service standards as important issues facing the health industry.
Susan Harding, nurse unit manager at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, said healthcare workers had gone through “dark days” as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak, and that the money was a reward for their hard work and stress.
‘Every person of our employees that we work with has a family,’ she explained.
‘It was terrifying to hope we were making the right decisions to send them home safely at the end of the day while watching mass graves being excavated overseas.’
The extra money will not be given to workers in Victoria’s private health system.
Lisa Fitzpatrick, Victorian branch secretary of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation, said the union would write to private acute care providers to demand a separate payment for such personnel.
‘It’s past time for private acute care businesses to step up and recognize their amazing employees the way the state government has,’ she added.
The $3,000 rewards, according to Opposition Leader Matthew Guy, were a commendable move and well-deserved.
‘Now let’s give Victorians and health workers the health system they deserve, not one that is underfunded and mismanaged,’ he tweeted.
Nurses across Australia should receive tax-free Covid-19 bonus payments, according to the Australian College of Nursing.
Mr Andrew’s idea is less expensive than Mr Perrottet’s $4.5 billion plan, which includes financing for 10,000 additional physicians, nurses, and other health workers.
Mr. Perrottet announced a 3% wage rise for all public sector employees in the coming fiscal year.
Depending on productivity gains, the salary increase might rise to 3.5 percent the next year, breaking the previous 2.5 percent ceiling.