Junior doctors at Northern Beaches Hospital call off industrial action
JUNIOR doctors worried about patient safety at the new Northern Beaches Hospital have called off industrial action, after Healthscope agreed to make changes.
Manly
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JUNIOR doctors at Northern Beaches Hospital have agreed not to go ahead with industrial action over concerns staff shortages were compromising patient safety.
Dr Tony Sara, from the Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation, said the meeting today was positive but the union would continue to monitor the situation closely.
Around 30 “fatigued” junior doctors listed a raft of “grave concerns” about the private-public hospital in a leaked letter to NSW Health.
These included that “one intern had been responsible for up to 60 patients”, there’s “routinely no medical registrar in the emergency department”, “inadequate nursing staff” and “unsafe supervision”.
ASMOF said at the weekend it had given the junior doctors its support if they chose to decline to provide medical care — except for extreme cases — to fully private patients.
And, that it would lodge a dispute with the Industrial Relations Commission if it didn’t receive a response by midday today.
However, Dr Sara said the meeting which included chief medical officer for Healthscope Victoria Atkinson, was positive and that the company appeared to be listening.
“They have rearranged medical teams starting today,” Dr Sara said.
“We were reassured by the meeting that they would ensure adequate staffing wherever possible.”
Dr Sara said the issues were brought up early last week, but restructuring only happened on Monday.
“We will monitor what happens closely and we will be surveying our young doctors again in the next couple of days,” he said.
The Manly Daily has previously reported that staff were stressed and too busy to take breaks, eat food or even go to the bathroom during their shifts.
Currently, there are 250 beds open with new staff joining each day and more beds opening as staff arrive.
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