“Enough is enough”: NSW doctors strike enters third day

Thousands of public hospital doctors across NSW walked off the job this week, calling for pay and conditions to be addressed.

Doctors have reduced services to public holiday staffing levels over the three days in a strike organised by Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation of NSW (ASMOF).

The doctors are calling for chronic doctor shortages, unsafe hours, fatigue and burnout, poor retention and a “lack of genuine negotiation” be addressed.

The strike entered its second day on Wednesday, with doctors outside St George Hospital in Kogarah wielding signs printed with “Strike so you don’t stroke” and “Tired doctors make mistakes”.

“Never thought I’d be protesting a Labour (sic) government on workers’ rights”, another read.

The NSW government expects about 700 elective surgeries will be cancelled because of the strike.

The doctors say they can be paid 20 to 30 per cent more in Queensland or Victoria and are hoping to win pay rises like the state’s police, public servants, paramedics and teachers in the past 18 months.

The state government has offered a 10.5 per cent pay rise over three years; however, the union wants a 30 per cent bump over a “reasonable” period of time and then three per cent rises so doctors are at parity with other states.

They’re also calling for minimum 10-hour breaks between shifts.

ASMOF president Nick Spooner said the rallies were a “clear demonstration” that doctors would no longer “operate in conditions that are not safe for staff or patients”.

“Thousands of doctors turned out to rallies at Westmead Hospital, Coffs Harbour and Port Macquarie Hospital to vent their frustration and anger at years of understaffing, overwork and doctor burnout,” Dr Spooner said.

“The reality is doctors in NSW are paid 30 per cent less than in other states, leading to a critical loss of talent and exacerbating existing staff shortages.

“Our members are working longer hours, with less support and facing higher demands than ever before. We need immediate action to ensure we can continue to deliver the quality care our patients deserve.”

Dr Spooner encouraged Australians unable to see a doctor in a public hospital to “ask Premier Chris Minns why not”.

“We are demanding real change, not just a marginal three per cent pay increase without addressing the fundamental issues of unsafe working conditions,” he said.

“This includes ensuring a minimum 10-hour break between shifts and providing crucial support where it’s desperately needed. Doctors no longer want to put themselves or their patients at risk. Enough is enough.”

He said the ASMOF was urgently calling on Mr Minns to return to the negotiating table so doctors could “return to their primary focus – caring for their patients”.

“It’s time to write a prescription for public health,” he said.

Mr Minns acknowledged that NSW public doctors were underpaid in a press conference on Tuesday, and there had been a “decade’s worth of underpayment or wage suppression under the previous government”.

However he said “12 years of wage suppression” couldn’t be fixed in one swoop while also acknowledging that the industrial action did pose a “risk” that patients may not be seen quickly.

“There is a risk, I can’t downplay the risk,” Mr Minns said on Tuesday.

“The risk is senior doctors, as well as junior doctors, won’t be available in the numbers that are required to ensure that people are seen quickly and to make sure we can offer the kind of health care and help that residents need when they go to a big emergency department.”