Subject matter expert in labour law in the healthcare industry
Werner Laubscher
I have spent the last 26 years working in healthcare, and if there is one thing that experience has taught me, it is that problems are rarely solved by creating another file that ends up in a cupboard.
Problems are solved by people and conversations.
They are solved by asking difficult questions, listening properly, understanding what is really happening and then being willing to do something about it. That philosophy has shaped my career and the way I work today.
My experience spans HR, industrial relations, executive management, consulting, investigations, disciplinary hearings, strategic reviews, organisational interventions, restructurings, rescues and turnarounds.
The NPO healthcare environment, in particular, is an area in which I have developed extensive specialist knowledge. It is a complex sector with its own pressures and realities, and working effectively within it requires far more than an understanding of one area of management or legislation.
I am proud of the knowledge I have built over 26 years. I do not say that arrogantly. It comes from choosing to remain focused on healthcare, doing the work year after year and being willing to step into difficult situations, including organisations facing circumstances serious enough to threaten their continued operation.
Where I have worked
- Hospitals
- Frail-care facilities
- Retirement villages
- Children's homes
- Dementia and memory care
- Nursing agencies
- Temporary employment services
- Addiction facilities
- Mental health facilities
- The NPO sector
I look at the whole picture
When I am brought into an organisation, I do not arrive with only an HR or industrial relations perspective. I understand the healthcare environment in which those functions operate.
Labour law matters, but healthcare does not operate under labour law alone.
There are other Acts, regulations, professional obligations and patient-centred requirements that must be considered. An employment matter can simultaneously be a patient-care issue, a clinical concern, a safeguarding matter, an operational failure, a management problem and a governance risk. You cannot properly deal with one while ignoring the others.
I am not a nurse, and I do not pretend to be one. But after 26 years of working within healthcare and alongside healthcare professionals, I understand the environment. That matters when I conduct investigations, manage complex employment matters or chair disciplinary hearings involving healthcare professionals.
The questions I ask
I do not simply ask, “What does labour law say?” I ask:
- 01 What happened to the patient or resident?
- 02 What were the employee's responsibilities?
- 03 What legislation and professional standards applied?
- 04 Did management, a process or the organisation itself contribute to what happened?
- 05 What risk was created, and what needs to change to prevent it happening again?
Because finding someone to blame is not the same as solving a problem.
People, conversations and solutions
My brain naturally works towards problem-solving. I want to understand what is happening, why it is happening and what we can practically do about it.
Sometimes I am called in because of a difficult employment matter. Sometimes there has been an incident involving a patient or resident that requires an independent investigation. Sometimes management knows something is wrong but cannot identify the underlying problem. And sometimes the entire organisation is in trouble.
I have been brought into healthcare organisations where their future was uncertain. Those situations are rarely caused by one problem. People, finances, management, governance, staffing, compliance, operations and patient care all begin affecting one another. I have had the privilege of helping organisations through situations like these and seeing them recover.
I am still doing the work
But my approach is not to produce an impressive report, put it in a file and walk away. Documentation and compliance matter, but a report sitting in a cupboard changes nothing.
I want to speak to the people doing the work. I want to understand what management believes is happening and compare that with what employees are experiencing. Sometimes solving a complicated organisational problem begins with a very simple conversation.
After 26 years, I have not moved to the sidelines. I still conduct investigations. I still chair hearings. I still work with management teams.
Experience is valuable, but only if you continue to add to it.
Healthcare deserves better
I have remained focused on healthcare because the decisions made inside these organisations affect real people: nurses, carers, managers, employees and families, but most importantly, the patients, residents, children and vulnerable people who depend on them. That responsibility should never be taken lightly.
Better conversations. Better leadership. Better employment practices. Better investigations. Better understanding of the relationship between labour law and patient-centred responsibilities. And better solutions that continue working after the consultant has left the building.
Not every problem requires another policy, report or file in a cupboard. Sometimes it requires sitting across the table and having the conversation everyone has been avoiding. Sometimes it requires asking the question nobody has asked.
I work with people. I start conversations. I solve problems. Because healthcare deserves better.
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