Nursing homes & hospitals

Reporting office for grievances fuels AK election campaign

The possibility of anonymously reporting grievances in the care and hospital sector to the AKNÖ is causing a stir.(Bild: Krone KREATIV, stock.adobe.com, picturedesk)

The fact that the Chamber of Labor has set up a reporting office for grievances in hospitals and nursing homes displeases the Central Works Council. Ostensibly because such a whistleblower website already exists. However, the actual background is probably the upcoming AK elections. 

Report grievances in clinics without fear", was the headline in the "Krone" newspaper last week, reporting on a new whistleblower website for the health and care sector in Lower Austria. Chamber of Labor President Markus Wieser (FSG) justified the establishment of this site for anonymous reports with the fear of internal consequences for many of those affected.

Central Works Council outraged
In an open letter to Wieser, the Central Works Council of the Lower Austrian Health and Care Centers (Zentralbetriebsrat der NÖ-Gesundheits- und Pflegezentren) reacted with disgust, describing the Chamber President's statement as "discrediting" the more than 500 staff representatives in the local hospitals and care homes.

Reporting office already exists
Feiertag also notes that "due to European standards", a reporting office for whistleblowers has already been set up by the provincial health agency anyway: "We therefore do not need an additional system."

We cannot and will not work together like this!

Gottfried Feiertag, Vorsitzender des Zentralbetriebsrates der NÖ Gesundheits- und Pflegezentren

Election campaign rages
The Chamber of Labor elections will take place in Lower Austria from April 10 to 23. The high-ranking FCG functionary Feiertag sees the campaign by FSG top candidate Wieser as an election campaign "at the expense of our employee representatives" and calls for such steps to be agreed in advance with the Central Works Council.