Witness Statement of Dr Jack Lipp

I, Dr Jack Lipp of 141 Bridge Street, Port Melbourne, state as follows:

  1. I am a General Practitioner at Bridge Street Clinic, Port Melbourne. I have worked at the practice for 38 years.
  2. The clinic operates from the hours of 8.00am to 5.30pm Monday to Friday and 8.00am to 11.00am Saturday.
  3. At Bridge Street Clinic we have five full time partners and two associates. The Clinic is a General Practice which specialises in occupational medicine including Workcover and pre-employment medicals. The Clinic provides triage. The work is very different and varied to most General Practices.
  4. The clinic employs four full time nurses and one part time nurse. This is different to many other General Practices whichpredominantly employ part time and casual nurses.
  5. When we employ nurses we advertise full time positions with a rostered day off. If wage is an issue it can be discussed. Our nurses are normally happy with the rate.
  6. The work that our nurses undertake is to assist doctors as necessary with procedures, medicals, spirometry, drug tests, vaccinations and audiometry.
  7. Our current rates are as follows:
  8. Nurse 1: Registered Nurse Division 2 – $23 per hour.
  9. Nurse 2: Registered Nurse Division 2 – $23 per hour.
  10. Nurse 3: Registered Nurse Division 2 – $23 per hour.
  11. Nurse 4: Registered Nurse Division 2 – $40 per hour.
  12. Nurse 5: Registered Nurse Division 1 – $32 per hour.
  13. We find that nurses are attracted to full time work in our Practice. The positions are generally not hard to fill.
  14. If our nurses need to finish work early we are flexible to their needs.
  15. All the nurses are clinical nurses. Two nurses do some administration work.
  16. We employ Division One and Division Two Registered Nurses. If a Division Two nurse has a minimal knowledge base we will help to build on that knowledge. They are shown by example and work alongside a more experienced nurse. The opportunity to attend lectures and outside education is also offered. At any time they can approach any of the doctors for advice an assistance.
  17. As the physical practice is small it benefits everyone to work together as a team. It is important that we maintain that teamwork. Negotiation of conditions of employment with a large number of practices means that we lose some of that ability to be flexible with the way we relate to our nurses.
  18. The Clinic has had a low turnover rate of staff. This suggests that our nurses are happy working at the Clinic and have no concerns about the wages.

Signed:______

Date: ______