Thousands of doctors across NSW will proceed with industrial action from Tuesday the 8th of April to Thursday 10th April. It is being led by members of The Doctors’ Union – Australian Salaried Medical Officers’ Federation (ASMOF) NSW. Public hospital staffing will be reduced to public holiday levels as multiple crises in the public health system reach breaking point.
The statewide action is a result of chronic understaffing, low pay compared to other Australian states, and unsafe working hours.
ASMOF President Dr Nicholas Spooner said the Minns Government has failed to take any action and walked away from award negotiations. Doctors have been left with no choice but to strike as their working conditions put themselves and patients at risk.
Hospitals will remain staffed to safe levels, with NSW hospitals operating under public holiday or ‘skeleton’ staffing over the three day strike, according to Spooner.
Multiple hospital departments across NSW have arranged provisions for industrial action and assured staff that medical training will not be impacted for those striking.
This is the first time in NSW that both junior and senior doctors from across departments have gone on strike. This is also the first time that doctors in NSW have taken industrial action since 1998.
Honi spoke with Ian Lisser, ASMOF’s Industrial Services Manager, who stated that they are currently “overwhelmed by the level of support from ASMOF membership.” More than 30 hospitals across NSW are committing to industrial action, including regional areas such as the Riverina and North Coast.
Patient safety will not be compromised by the strike. Urgent priorities such as emergency departments and critical care units will remain fully staffed. Doctors will not undertake non-urgent duties.
Here’s what will be impacted:
- Elective surgeries will be postponed — only emergency procedures will be performed
- Outpatient clinics and non-urgent consultations will be cancelled
- Non-urgent medical procedures will be rescheduled
In negotiations, the government has re-offered the same deal from June last year — a 3% pay raise — despite looming threats of industrial action. This did not assist in the attaining or retaining of more skilled staff specialists required in the NSW public health sector, according to Dr Spooner.
“We don’t want to strike. We want to care for our patients safely. However, we will not stand by while the NSW government allows the system to crumble. The system is not sustainable, and we cannot continue like this…” says Dr Spooner
Currently, there are over 100,000 public patients on the elective surgery waitlist. Some patients are waiting over 24 hours to see a doctor at an Emergency Department.
Dr. Spooner questions why Premier Chris Minns is okay with keeping patients waiting while their health deteriorates.
“We call on Premier Minns to come to the table and provide the staffing, the conditions, and the respect that NSW doctors deserve. The future of our health system depends on it.”
Patients have been struggling to see a doctor in the NSW public hospitals. Doctors have been exhausted, burnt out, and leaving the sector.
Spooner says that doctors are leaving the state in significant numbers to work in other parts of Australia due to unsustainable working conditions in NSW.
“We are working dangerously long hours, including 16-hour back-to-back shifts with barely any rest, and often covering multiple roles due to chronic staff shortages.” Dr Spooner said.
The current conditions of chronic understaffing are unsafe for doctors and for patients.
“Many [doctors] are working 16-hour back-to-back shifts with little rest, leading to exhaustion, burnout, and mistakes that put patients at risk.” says Dr Spooner.
“We urgently need safe working hours, including a guaranteed 10-hour break between shifts, to ensure fatigued doctors are not seeing patients.”
“It’s demoralising and heartbreaking to work in a system that is breaking down in real time in front of us.”
Lisser informed Honi that they are unable to confirm whether there will be continuing small scale industrial action, such as abstaining from administrative tasks, after this period. However, they have called on the NSW government to respond to their demands amidst this escalating crisis, which is putting both doctors’ and patients at risk.
