Surgeries canned as doctors’ strike continues
Doctors strike enters second day after elective surgeries were cancelled across the state yesterday amid a bitter wage dispute.
NSW
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Thousands of doctors across NSW are continuing industrial action for a second day amid a bitter wage dispute with the Minns government.
Five thousand doctors and staff from 32 hospitals across the state walked off the job on Tuesday, after negotiations disintegrated between the Minns government and Australian Salaried Medical Officers’ Federation (ASMOF).
ASMOF President Dr. Nick Spooner stated that doctors are no longer willing to work in unsafe conditions, claiming chronic long hours, burnout, and understaffing.
“We need immediate action to ensure we can continue to deliver the quality care our patients deserve,” he said.
The union wants a 30 per cent pay rise, with a ten per cent increase in the first year as well as improvements to working conditions.
It comes as more than 370 patients had elective surgeries canned and 3020 outpatient appointments were cancelled, with the number likely to increase over the next two days, as doctors continue to strike until Thursday evening.
NSW Health deputy secretary Matthew Daly told media on Tuesday afternoon that despite concerns hospital emergency departments would be affected by the walk outs, they were still performing to the national benchmark as of midday Tuesday.
About 21 hospital beds were closed as a result of the industrial action — 20 of them emergency department short-stay beds.
Mr Daly said ASMOF had been telling members to target short-stay beds, knowing it would put pressure on emergency departments, which would cause the deterioration of ED performance over the next two days.
“The union has been very public about asking their members not to admit patients to those beds, because they know it will have a direct impact on the efficacy of emergency departments,” he said.
“I expect in the coming days we’ll see the result of that in terms of EDs slowing down their performance … it can’t sustain the withdrawal of bed capacity.”
Health Minister Ryan Park apologised to patients who had surgeries cancelled.
He said both he and Premier Chris Minns met with union officials on Tuesday evening and offered to significantly increase the wages of the junior doctors, which are the lowest paid, if they stopped the three-day strikes.
Mr Park said the government had not presented the doctors’ union with a dollar or percentage figure for the offer, which was rejected.
ASMOF instead said it would settle for an immediate 10 per cent increase in the first year to avoid the action, which the government rejected.
“We couldn’t do that last night … that is well outside what our current offer is,” Mr Park said
“What we said we would do is try and get (junior doctor salaries) resolved, because we think that is where an increase needs to happen significantly.”
Mr Park said the union rejected the offer to single out junior doctors because they weren’t presented with a percentage figure.
“They wanted an immediate increase that was significantly higher than what the government had offered in terms of a wage increase,” he said.
ASMOF President Dr Nicolas Spooner said doctors were striking because the health system “is not safe”.
“Doctors across this state are working 16-hour shifts, day after day, with little rest and no end in sight. They are exhausted, they are leaving, and they are not being replaced,” he said.
“Doctors are not asking for the world. We’re asking for safe working hours, a minimum 10-hour break between shifts, and proper staffing so people don’t have to wait hours to see a doctor in Emergency.”
* EDITOR’S NOTE: The NSW Health Minister’s office has apologised after providing incorrect information in relation to the cancellation of chemotherapy appointments as a result of the doctors’ strike. On Tuesday, The Daily Telegraph reported 486 cancer patients had their chemotherapy appointments cancelled. Instead, the figures related to oncology appointments that had been cancelled, which was later revised down to 400 on Wednesday.
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Originally published as Surgeries canned as doctors’ strike continues
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