NSW doctors warned strike may breach medical board’s code of conduct obligations by lead insurer

Thousands of doctors in NSW hospitals who are vowing to go on strike next week have been warned they may face ‘legal and professional consequences’ for forging ahead with the action.

Doctors have threatened to hold a three-day strike in NSW hospitals if they don’t get a 30pc pay rise. File picture: iStock

Thousands of doctors in major hospitals vowing to go on strike next week have been warned that walking off the job may not be in line with the medical board’s code of conduct obligations.

In an extraordinary move, the insurer that covers NSW doctors in private hospitals has warned doctors not to go on strike next week, in defiance of the industrial umpire’s orders.

The Saturday Telegraph understands that doctors were calling insurer Avant Mutual, worried about whether they would be covered if something went wrong while they were on strike.

The insurer warned doctors may face “potential legal and professional consequences” if they participated in the strike.

“Doctors should also consider whether industrial action aligns with their obligations under the Medical Board’s Good medical practice – A code of conduct for doctors in Australia.”

Health Minister Ryan Park. Picture: Monique Harmer

It comes as the union estimated more than 5000 doctors will walk off the job at more than 32 NSW hospitals, including Westmead, Royal Prince Alfred, Nepean and Royal North Shore.

The Minns government was left scrambling to claw back control of the health system this week, as doctors vowed to go on strike for three days from next Tuesday, which would see elective surgeries cancelled and emergency departments grind to a halt.

Members of the Australian Salaried ­Medical Officers’ Federation (ASMOF) were on Friday vowing to go ahead with the strike over demands for a 30 per cent pay rise.

The move will delay any resolution in a separate industrial dispute between public psychiatrists and the NSW government.

Health Minister Ryan Park urged the union to call the strike off.

“We haven’t seen industrial action like this in 35 years,” he said.

He said the government was prepared to give doctors a 3 per cent pay rise, backdated, as a “sign of good faith,” if the strike was put off.

But ASMOF Executive Director Andrew Holland said the union was “determined” to go ahead with the strike after doctors were “left with little choice”.

ASMOF executive director Andrew Holland said the strike would not affect patient care and safety. Picture: Nikki Short

“After 18 months of failed negotiations, our members are striking because they feel they have no other way to be heard,” he said.

“Right now, doctors across NSW are working dangerously long hours in severely understaffed hospitals.

“The result is a workforce that is exhausted and burning out, and patient care is being put at risk.

Mr Holland said the strike will be carried out across NSW hospitals but assured patients it will “be conducted in a safe and responsible manner”, despite concerns suggesting otherwise.

“Emergency departments and critical care units will remain safely staffed, and patient safety will not be compromised,” he said.

Earlier: Doctors ordered to call off strike or risk psychiatrists’ wage deal

Sydney hospitals could grind to a halt next week, with unionised doctors preparing to hold a mass strike in ­defiance of the industrial relations umpire.

Doctors at 32 public hospitals have vowed to go on strike for three days from Tuesday next week, demanding a pay rise of up to 30 per cent.

That includes hospitals like Westmead, RPA, Nepean and North Shore.

“EDs (emergency departments) are going to pile up … (it’s) going to be a nightmare,” one doctor at a Sydney hospital said.

“People won’t die as a result of it, but it will clog up the whole system for ages.”

ASMOF president ­Dr Nicholas Spooner. Picture: Supplied

It’s expected that elective surgeries will need to be cancelled and outpatient services will be paused, with hospitals to operate on “skeleton” public holiday staffing levels.

The strike, by members of the Australian Salaried ­Medical Officers’ Federation (ASMOF), would be in defiance of a ruling from the Industrial Relations Commission, which this week ordered the union to call off its action.

ASMOF risks being fined thousands of dollars if its members go ahead with the strike.

In a scathing ruling on Thursday, the Industrial Relations Commission’s full bench issued ASMOF a warning that if the strike goes ahead, it would derail an agreement in a separate wage dispute, between the government and public psychiatrists.

ASMOF and the state government are currently locked in arbitration in the court after a mass resignation of public psychiatrists, over their demand for a 25 per cent pay rise.

ASMOF was on Thursday night set to make a decision on whether the doctors’ strike would go ahead or be postponed. If the strike goes ahead, public psychiatrists would need to wait longer for their wage dispute to be resolved.

Health Minister Ryan Park urged the union to return to the negotiating table. Picture: Gaye Gerard

In a statement on Wednesday, ASMOF president ­Nicholas Spooner said the ­doctor strike was a “last resort” for professionals at breaking point.

“Doctors are exhausted, burnt out and leaving the public sector,” Dr Spooner said.

“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.

“We want to be very clear with the people of NSW – patient safety will not be compromised.”

The union expects thousands of its 9000 members will walk off the job next week if the strike goes ahead.

Health Minister Ryan Park said it was “not too late” to return to negotiations.

“The independent umpire as a mechanism for resolving these disputes only works if we all play by the rules,” he said.

“For the first time in a generation, the (IR) Commission can set a fair wage with no wages cap.

“Let them do their job without putting patients and the community at risk.”

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Originally published as NSW doctors warned strike may breach medical board’s code of conduct obligations by lead insurer