Upper Hunter Shire Council has cut back the shifts of local nursing and support staff at Gummun Place Hostel to a minimum in favour of employing agency staff from Queensland on fulltime hours.
We can reveal an email from the council to staff at the Merriwa nursing home last week obtained by this newsroom state’s “It is necessary to roster the agency staff for up to 38 hours, which does mean less casual shifts available.”
The council has engaged a number of the interstate workers to fill temporary gaps including registered nurses, enrolled nurses and PCA positions.
We’ve been told this decision impacts around 15 local staff.
It comes as the council looks to offload management of the facility that has run at $400,000 loss annually for the past five years.
