Queensland Health fails its nurses

'Administrative error' is a really lame excuse that seems to be particularly fashionable lately for blowing off responsibility for a whole range of fuckups. No surprises it's popular among governments. But Queensland Health really takes the cake for their treatment of a nurse who was raped while working in a remote Torres Strait Island community.

The 27-year-old nurse told police she was raped as she slept in her home on Mabuiag Island in the early hours of February 5.

Since then, her employer Queensland Health has declined to pay her any wages or expenses because the "injury" occurred at work and it was an issue of workers' compensation, The Australian newspaper reported today.

The nurse also was told by health authorities immediately after the attack that if she left Mabuiag Island she would have the days away deducted from her leave, the newspaper said.

Hideous.

The headline in the Brisbane Times reads 'Government apologises over nurse rape'. Only I didn't see an apology, and what Queensland Government health minister Stephen Robertson had to say sure didn't sound like a genuine apology:

"It would appear an error has occurred, an administrative error occurred, that stopped her payment early prior to the completion of her contract and that is being attended to today," Mr Robertson said.

"So there was nothing malicious about that, it was a simple administrative error that occurred ... so there was nothing that was as a result of the very unfortunate circumstances that happened to her."

Nothing malicious? The person who effectively told the nurse 'If you leave the scene of your rape you'll be punished for it by forfeiting leave because you should be still at work' didn't stop and think "Hang on, something is really wrong here- how can we ensure that this valuable employee is looked after to the best of our ability and who do I have to talk to to make sure this is done?". They're so mindless that they couldn't see that they were compounding the trauma of a rape victim who happened to be a nurse in a remote area where it's actually really hard to get sufficient medical staff? Did they think that after seeing the woman treated like that, other nurses are going to be clamouring to take her place?

They weren't thinking at all, more like it.

Two reports from The Australian, which broke the story, are even more damning:

"And when she reported the rape to Thursday Island (authorities) and said she wanted to come off, she was told she would have to have any time taken off deducted from leave owed to her.

"She arrived on Thursday Island because her partner arranged for a flight, and had to get her own accommodation, and then the nurses' union arranged for her to get to Cairns, where she received medical and psychological assistance."

Well, thank god for the union, because Queensland Health clearly can't be trusted to rescue their employees from a dangerous situation even after serious harm has been done.

The colleague said the nurse gave statements to police, who arrested and charged the alleged perpetrator.

"Now she has returned to her home outside Sydney and has not been paid a cent since the incident, being told it is the responsibility of WorkCover," the colleague said.

Following last month's attack, the 27-year-old victim - who worked alone on the island and had pleaded for improved security - was flown to Cairns where she was hospitalised.

The conditions in which nurses, teachers, police and other public servants are expected to live when posted to Cape York and Torres Strait island communities have been the source of constant complaint for more than a decade.

The Queensland Nurses Union said yesterday that the state Government had been given a month to get security for all health facilities in the Torres Strait or nurses would withdraw their services.

Queensland Health has repeatedly refused to release the damning report, which has been leaked to The Australian, but in a statement yesterday said it would immediately improve security.