“ SA Pathology is
respected around the globe for its high quality service, its research capabilities and first class training.
WE WON!
”
PSA AND ALLIES SAVE SA PATHOLOGY FROM PRIVATISATION Only weeks prior to his election as Premier, Steven Marshall told PSA members at a union forum that a Liberal government led by him did not have a privatisation agenda. But by the time his first state budget came around, just months after the election, that promise was proven empty. Along with the privatisation of the Adelaide Remand Centre and substantial budgets cuts, the state government set SA Pathology a budget savings target that was unachievable without cutting hundreds of jobs. And hanging over SA Pathology’s head was the threat of privatisation — if they didn’t make the savings they would be sold off to a private for-profit operator. From the minute the state government announced it was considering the privatisation of SA Pathology, the PSA re-energised its campaign to keep the service public. PSA staff researched other jurisdictions where public pathology had been privatised, and it became apparent very quickly there were only tales of woe.
10
From just over the border in Victoria to the Irish capital of Dublin, we identified a trail of destruction and scandal. Private pathology providers have a significant track record of cutting the workforce, sending tests interstate and even offshore for analysis, and have been guilty of numerous scandals where catastrophic mistakes had cost lives.
slow turnaround times, higher fees, and cherry-picking the simpler, more profitable tests.
Community pressure
”
The PSA’s efforts to save SA Pathology was based around community awareness raising and included a strong media and communications strategy that tied in with our ‘SA Not For Sale’ campaign. At every opportunity we made comment in the mainstream media, but importantly we engaged members and wider public through social media, campaign leafleting at strategic locations, and as part of a targeted radio campaign highlighting the perils of privatisation.
We were not going to accept the same for our state’s public pathology service and neither were our dedicated members and the general public. We knew that in SA Pathology we had a service that was second-to-none. SA Pathology is respected around the globe for its high quality service, its research capabilities and first class training. Private pathology providers, on the other hand, are renowned for sacking experienced scientists, closing down laboratories,
Over the course of the campaign the PSA reached more than one third of the SA population with our message. We highlighted scandals like the incorrect analysis of hundreds of cervical cancer tests which has led to the death of dozens of women in Ireland and numerous local examples of downsizing that has led to inferior health care for Australians. And we made the community aware of what they would lose if their public pathology service fell into private hands.
“ Over the course of
the campaign the PSA reached more than one third of the SA population with our message.
Public Sector Review Magazine | JUNE 2020
