DOCTORS and nurses might have to change beds and mop floors at Cairns Base Hospital with cleaners, orderlies and wardsmen refusing to service people with swine flu.

The assistants have threatened to ban service to any part of the hospital occupied by people with the virus after a row with Queensland Health over sick leave entitlements.

More than 100 workers voted unanimously for the action at meetings at the hospital yesterday.

Australian Workers’ Union Far Northern district organiser John Van Leent said a memorandum from Queensland Health was "short changing members".

He said the memorandum stated employees who fell ill and had used all their sick leave were only entitled to access their long service leave or sick leave without pay.

"We are not going to go in there unless they change their policy," he said.

"Nurses or doctors will have to take up work … whoever wants to do it, it won’t be us."

The workers have given Queensland Health until 5pm tomorrow to table a revised offer.

Mr Van Leent said there was a policy in the industrial relations manual which allowed workers sick with a pandemic illness to take leave on full pay.

He said swine flu was considered a pandemic, with five patients suffering from the disease in intensive care at the hospital.

"It is law for an employee to provide a safe work place. This is not a safe work place at the moment," he said.

A spokeswoman from the Queensland Nurses’ Union said hospital workers should not back away from their duties because of swine flu.

"Nurses and midwifes don’t walk away from our responsibility at hospitals," she said.

Queensland Health did not respond to The Cairns Post’s requests for comment yesterday.

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