Following in Westmead Hospital’s footsteps, junior medical officers (JMOs) from Wollongong Hospital have joined in solidarity to advocate against pay discrepancies and limited staffing conditions.
The Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation (ASMOF) said the statewide strike is the first of its kind in 40 years, and comes as a result of ongoing negotiations between the government and various unions lasting multiple years.
In New South Wales, the salary for first year health registrars shows a stark disparity compared to other states, earning thousands of dollars less for the same workload and practices.
(Data sourced from: https://www.nswjuniordocs.com.au/)
Furthermore, NSW is the only state in which JMOs are not reimbursed for their training costs with a Professional Development Allowance adding additional financial pressures.
(Data sourced from: https://www.nswjuniordocs.com.au/)
Wollongong Hospital’s Dr Dylan Wintershaw said that the current pay rates are also not proportionate with the states heightened cost of living, which is the highest in the country.
As a result, a significant number of graduating New South Wales medical practitioners are relocating to other states in favour of higher pay and improved benefits.
Doing so has led to understaffing and heavier clinical workloads for the remaining NSW doctors, who now suffer excessive hours, minimal break times, and subsequent impairment in their performance due to fatigue.
“It’s more about making sure that patients are actually being seen by practitioners who have had a proper break and haven’t worked excessive hours. It’s about wanting to enforce safer working conditions and ensuring both patient and JMO wellbeing, which is what we’re hoping to draw attention to through this rally,” Dr Wintershaw said.
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About 70 of Wollongong Hospital’s staff members took three days off from their typical duties, which the union claimed would not pose detrimental or unsafe services for patients.
“The union has worked very closely with each participating hospital to ensure that there is–at least–public holiday staffing levels. These are significantly lower than the regular working week, however it’s the staffing level that has been deemed acceptable by New South Wales Health,” he said.
“So the union has made sure there are no emergency shortages to ensure patient safety is kept at the forefront.”
Hospital practices will continue as normal, however it is up to NSW Health Premier Ryan Park to determine the future of the pay dispute.
