Junior doctors launch class action against Barwon Health over alleged excessive hours

Junior doctors have launched a class action against Barwon Health over alleged excessive hours and unpaid, unrostered overtime.

Junior doctors have launched a class action against Barwon Health.

Junior doctors have launched a class action against Barwon Health over alleged excessive hours and unpaid, unrostered overtime.

It is expected to cover about 1500 plus junior doctors who have worked at Geelong hospital over the last six years.

Lawyer Hayden Stephens said Barwon Health was yet another health service where there had been blatant disregard for the welfare of junior doctors.

“This isn’t a safe environment for junior doctors, and it certainly isn’t a safe environment for the patients they work so hard to care for,” he said.

“Given the potential number of doctors involved over the six year claim period, I would expect that, if successful, the repayment amount to junior doctors would be significant.”

There are currently seven other class actions lodged against 12 of Victoria’s largest health services.

Lawyer Hayden Stephens. Photo: Stewart Allen.

Further action against other Victorian health services is expected over the coming months.

Lawyers Gordon Legal and Hayden Stephens and Associates represent both the Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation of Victoria (ASMOF) and junior doctors in these class actions.

Nathan Abraham, who is an ASMOF councillor, has been at Barwon Health since February.

He is in his sixth year as a junior doctor in Victoria and said as he worked in intensive care his exposure to unrostered overtime was somewhat minimal.

However, he said large swathes of junior doctors both at Barwon Health and elsewhere faced regularly needing to go beyond their rostered hours just to fulfil their daily workload.

That extra work was unpaid, he said.

The extent of this overtime depended on factors including position and specialty, he said.

“I think the main thing that’s important is the implication on fatigue,” he said.

Dr Abraham, 29, said exhaustion could mean doctors were not at peak performance, in a field where lives were at stake.

He said junior doctors being overworked was an “open secret” at most Victorian hospitals.

Junior doctors were on one year contracts and worried about jeopardising their career prospects, he said.

They wanted to see better staffing, he said.

The Barwon Health proceeding follows a landmark victory in the Federal Court earlier this year when a judge ruled that Peninsula Health breached Fair Work legislation when it did not pay class action lead applicant, Dr Gaby Bolton, for overtime while working at Frankston Hospital in 2019 and 2020.

Mr Stephens said clients were disappointed that Peninsula Health had appealed.

He said health services should accept the Federal Court ruling and work with junior doctors to try to reach a mediated settlement.

A Barwon Health spokesman said it was unable to comment on this matter while it was before the court.

“Barwon Health values the work of all staff and we are committed to safe working hours and staff well-being,” he said.

Doctors working at Barwon Health are being urged by lawyers to sign up at doctorovertime.com.au and register their interest in the action.

Originally published as Junior doctors launch class action against Barwon Health over alleged excessive hours