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Alfred doctors slam government EBA inaction
21 August 2008
Senior Medical Staff at The Alfred Hospital slammed the Victorian Government for its lack of progress in offering a new enterprise bargaining agreement for the state’s public hospital doctors.
At a meeting with AMA Victoria last week the doctors also expressed “grave concern over the decline in health care quality in Victorian public hospitals”.
At a meeting with AMA Victoria last week the doctors also expressed “grave concern over the decline in health care quality in Victorian public hospitals”.
The public hospital doctors’ enterprise bargaining agreement expired on 30 June and a new agreement is yet to be reached.
“We’ve been without an EBA for seven weeks and our negotiations with the government are slow and inadequate,” AMA Victoria President Dr Doug Travis said. “The current government proposal does not offer pay parity with other states or address many of the major problems within our public hospital system.”
“Doctors don’t want the distraction of a long and drawn-out process; they want to concentrate on patient care. We have said all along that we are happy to reach an agreement early on and that offer remains open.”
AMA Victoria has been meeting hospital doctors across the state to seek feedback on the current proposal, hear concerns and discuss options for future action.
The Alfred’s Senior Medical Staff passed a resolution last week which condemned the government’s slow progress and expressed “grave concern over the decline in healthcare quality in Victorian public hospitals”.
A senior doctor who attended the Alfred Senior Medical Staff meeting told AMA Victoria the government needed to get serious about offering an agreement because “we’re not prepared to play games for another six months”.
The Alfred doctors said the Health Minister had been sitting on a review of public hospital medical staff for the past eight months. The review notes that poor conditions and low morale in Victorian public hospitals are driving doctors away from the public sector
So far only seven of the 71 recommendations have been implemented and doctors say the lack actions is “adversely affecting patient safety, health care quality and recruitment and retention of doctors in Victoria”.
Dr Travis said without significant public hospital reform, Victoria risked losing the best and brightest doctors to the private sector for better conditions or interstate for more attractive salaries.
“We expect the government to get serious about a new EBA now so doctors can focus on patient care. While we wait on an offer, we want to see some of the problems in Victoria’s public hospitals addressed.”
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