Mater to lose 400 staff in pathology provider shake-up

A major Queensland provider of private and public hospitals will cut hundreds of jobs from its pathology arm, blaming cuts to Medicare subsidies and rising costs.

Mater confirmed 400 full-time and casually employed staff would lose jobs from its internal pathology unit across Brisbane and Springfield over the next 12-18 months, including 100 positions before Christmas.

The decision to switch to an external provider was put down to cuts to Medicare subsidies, which they say have not kept pace with rising delivery, workforce and property costs.

“Mater has made the difficult decision to transition from operating Mater Pathology to a new pathology service model,” said a spokesperson for the group.

“Under the new model, pathology services at Mater’s Brisbane and Springfield hospitals will be delivered through specialist providers, including Sullivan Nicolaides Pathology and Pathology Queensland.

“[The] model Mater is adopting is used by private hospital operators across Australia and will allow more resources to be directed to the clinical care of our patients.”

Mater Pathology currently offers blood tests, respiratory testing, glucose tolerance testing and non-invasive prenatal testing.

The spokesperson said the decision was not a reflection of staff capability, rather the challenges associated with Mater’s scale and network density, and its long-term sustainability.

“This decision will have no impact on the high-quality care Mater patients receive, with continuity of care underpinning every stage of the transition.”

Health Minister Tim Nicholls expressed “sorrow and sympathy” for affected staff and agreed that current federal funding arrangements weren’t keeping pace with demand across numerous healthcare services.

“We support those comments [about Medicare] immediately,” he said.

“Cost-of-living pressures, even for those people who have private health insurance, is making people turn up at our emergency departments and use public health services rather than relying on their private health insurance.

“And so we do need the Commonwealth to step up to make sure that the Medicare rebate does actually cover the cost of delivering those services.”

Nicholls said he had been in contact with Mater about the planned cuts and said redeployment opportunities would be explored.

“Pathology Queensland will, where it can, step in to pick up services … [and] although we’re fully staffed at the moment, we will be looking to provide opportunities for those people who worked at Mater Pathology.”

Mater said future employment decisions were a matter for external providers.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.