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Post by Banker on Mar 19, 2012 5:37:03 GMT 7
CENTRELINK and Medicare staff say they are so stressed dealing with long lines and abusive customers their hair is falling out, they are turning to psychologists and one even had a heart attack. Sign up for your free 2 month trial A survey of staff blamed decreasing staff levels for ballooning wait times - up to two hours - that have seen security employed in some cases to manage angry customers. It showed complaints were skyrocketing from unhappy clients who had smashed up office phones, abused staff and even fallen asleep on the phone while waiting to speak to someone. More than 70 per cent of staff reported workers who quit were not replaced, placing massive pressure on those left behind who were expected to get through the same workloads. Nearly 200 case studies in the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) survey paint a picture of staff who "feel like robots'' and are at breaking point, suffering anxiety, burnout and depression. "I, as a manger, suffered a heart attack in part due to increase workplace pressure,'' one worker wrote. "I am currently being treated by a psych for post traumatic stress disorder due to four incidents of customer aggression over three months in late 2011,'' wrote another. "We have had to employ a security guard for the first time ever,'' another said. CPSU national secretary Nadine Flood said the Department of Health and Services had trimmed 2000 staff from the 40,000-odd workforce. The union feared a drop to 38,000 in 2012/13. Ms Flood said the Government couldn't cut $2.2 billion from public services without impacting real people. "We do not want to see people unable to pay rent or buy food because the agencies don't have enough staff to deal with their situation,'' Ms Flood said. She said more mistakes were being made as overworked staff struggled to keep up. Ms Flood appealed to the Government not to look for more savings from essential services that were "already at crisis point'' in the May 8 Budget. goo.gl/XYysw |
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Post by Banker on Mar 19, 2012 12:29:48 GMT 7
This is all over the news today.
Centrelink, Medicare staff swamped: CPSU A new survey suggests federal public servants are struggling to maintain services under the impact of budget cuts and disaster relief efforts. The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) says the pressure on agencies such as Centrelink and Medicare is causing longer waiting times and more errors.CPSU national secretary Nadine Flood says staff numbers in the Department of Human Services have dropped by 2,000 over the past couple of years.
Ms Flood says the increased demand for services during the recent floods has made the situation critical. "Centrelink and Medicare call for staff volunteers to work in specialised call centres or travel to disaster hit areas. As always, current staff have volunteered during the current floods. But what that does is it takes more staff out of the normal daily operations and that is creating a real crisis," she said. "We are seeing much longer wait times, higher workloads for staff, more errors and more frustration and conflict from customers as a direct result of budget cuts and staff losses."Ms Flood says staff numbers in the Human Services Department are expected to drop a further 2,000 in 2012-2013 because of the increased efficiency dividend.The Federal Government is increasing the efficiency dividend from 1.5 per cent to 4 per cent in 2012-2013, in a bid to cut public service spending by more than $1.5 billion. "We are deeply concerned that Government may cut Centrelink and Medicare even further in the upcoming budget," she said. "I'm not sure many Australians would support a budget surplus delivered at the expense of essential frontline services." au.news.yahoo.com/latest/a/-/article/13202202/centrelink-medicare-staff-swamped-cpsu/
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Post by rowdy on Mar 19, 2012 18:57:48 GMT 7
This is all over the news today.
Centrelink, Medicare staff swamped: CPSU A new survey suggests federal public servants are struggling to maintain services under the impact of budget cuts and disaster relief efforts. The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) says the pressure on agencies such as Centrelink and Medicare is causing longer waiting times and more errors.CPSU national secretary Nadine Flood says staff numbers in the Department of Human Services have dropped by 2,000 over the past couple of years.
Ms Flood says the increased demand for services during the recent floods has made the situation critical. "Centrelink and Medicare call for staff volunteers to work in specialised call centres or travel to disaster hit areas. As always, current staff have volunteered during the current floods. But what that does is it takes more staff out of the normal daily operations and that is creating a real crisis," she said. "We are seeing much longer wait times, higher workloads for staff, more errors and more frustration and conflict from customers as a direct result of budget cuts and staff losses."Ms Flood says staff numbers in the Human Services Department are expected to drop a further 2,000 in 2012-2013 because of the increased efficiency dividend.The Federal Government is increasing the efficiency dividend from 1.5 per cent to 4 per cent in 2012-2013, in a bid to cut public service spending by more than $1.5 billion. "We are deeply concerned that Government may cut Centrelink and Medicare even further in the upcoming budget," she said. "I'm not sure many Australians would support a budget surplus delivered at the expense of essential frontline services." au.news.yahoo.com/latest/a/-/article/13202202/centrelink-medicare-staff-swamped-cpsu/ To be now known as Centresunk and Medifail |
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