Author: admin

Newfoundland and Labrador’s registered nurses’ union is calling on families to stay vigilant about the care of their loved ones who find themselves in the health-care system this holiday season.

Yvette Coffey, president of the province’s registered nurses’ union, said the provincial health authority needs to end its reliance on mandatory overtime just to keep health-care services running.

“It is a big, big potential for undue harm for the people who are in our care over this holiday season,” Coffey told CBC Radio’s On the Go.

Coffey said the union and health authority were supposed to meet almost two weeks ago to discuss scheduling issues, which happened earlier this week.

“If they had met with us on December 12, in early December, we wouldn’t be talking about that issue right now with an emergency department without any staff over Christmas,” Coffey said.

If departments aren’t staffed, registered nurses will be mandated to work overtime. Last weekend in Carbonear, Coffey said more than a dozen people had to stay beyond their eight or 12 hour shifts.

Coffey said once mandated for overtime nurses are asked to self-assess whether they are fit to practice or too exhausted.

“They liken it to the RCMP pulling somebody over who they believe to be impaired and asking them whether or not they feel impaired. There is no external or independent judgement,” she said.

CBC News asked NLHS for an interview on Tuesday but no one was immediately available.

‘Be diligent’

Coffey also cautioned people who find themselves inside the health-care system over the holidays.

“Come for care because the people who are working in that system are dedicated professionals,” she said.

“But you also need to know that some of those nurses might be working 16, 20 or 24-hour shifts, and you need to be diligent, as well, in the care of your loved one.”

Coffey said travel agency nurses aren’t readily available during the holidays, including the Christmas period. She added most travel nurses are from outside the province and they work for private agencies and aren’t invested in the province’s people or healthcare.

“They have no allegiance to us,” she said.

She wants the province to implement a provincial travel pool of nurses and said in January a briefing note will be sent to the provincial government to formally propose the provincial travel pool of nurses.

In the meantime, Coffey said staff and patients may be at risk due to inadequate staffing.

“Mandatory overtime for nurses means increased risk of injury, but for our patients it means increased risks of mistakes and undue harm.”

 Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Sign up for our daily headlines newsletter here. Click here to visit our landing page.

UST, a global technology transformation company headquartered in California, has signed an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Italdesign Giugiaro S.p.A., a historic automotive design and engineering firm that has helped shape the industry’s history.

The current shareholder of Italdesign, Automobili Lamborghini — part of the Audi Group — will retain an equity interest.

The Audi Group will remain a long-term strategic partner of Italdesign, ensuring continuity and collaboration in the areas that have defined the company’s reputation for over five decades.
The transaction creates a strong partnership that combines UST’s expertise in automotive engineering, artificial intelligence, software-defined vehicle development and digital ecosystem design, with Italdesign’s deep knowledge in vehicle and industrial product design and engineering, prototyping, small-series production, and automotive electronics.

Together, the companies will be able to offer a comprehensive and integrated portfolio of services — from initial concept and design through hardware and software development to production systems — to support the development of modern, digitally advanced vehicles.

UST and Italdesign also intend to extend this integrated approach on a global scale. UST will enable Italdesign to expand its international presence through UST’s global network in more than 30 countries.

Completion of the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals.

Baker McKenzie assisted UST with a team led by Partner Paolo Ghiglione, supported by Partner Anna Marina De Vivo and Associate Giacomo Lamperti, who handled the corporate aspects of the transaction. The London team was led by UST relationship partner, Ash Tiwari, with support from Senior Associate Niraj Visani and associate Ambrose Teo.

The Baker McKenzie team also included Senior Counsel Alessia Raimondo and Associate Nicolò Crespi for employment matters, Associate Francesca Montefusco for real estate, and Counsel Antonio Lattanzio for regulatory issues. Counsel Philipp Schuett and associate Hannah Mack managed the German law aspects.

London corporate partner, Ash Tiwari, commented on the transaction: “It was fantastic to support UST on this exciting and important transaction which will enable the combined business to support the development of fully modern, digitally enabled vehicles and to extend this integrated approach to a global scale. We look forward to partnering with the UST team again.” 

Linklaters advised the Audi Group