+34Doctors across Victoria walked off the job for four hours and allied health professionals for 24 hours, as year-long pay negotiations with the state government remain deadlocked.
Doctors and allied health professionals at Victoria's public hospitals walked off the job today, as year-long bargaining processes with the government over pay and conditions remain at a standstill.
Doctors across the state undertook a four-hour work stoppage from 3:30pm to 7:30pm, while allied health professionals struck for a full 24 hours. Members of the Victorian Allied Health Professionals Association (VAHPA), which represents professions such as radiographers, physiotherapists and social workers, have gone on strike at 43 public sector hospitals in the state. Doctors gathered outside Parliament House in Melbourne to call for improvements to their working conditions.
Doctors Demand Pay Rise Caps
Their demands include a 30 per cent pay rise over four years, a cap of 12.5 hours on shifts, paid overtime, and a guarantee of three consecutive days off during a fortnight of work. Hospital emergency departments were excluded from the work stoppage, with staffing across hospitals remaining at Saturday levels to protect patient safety and welfare.
VAHPA said exemptions to the stop work would apply in certain sectors such as emergency care, neo-natal, maternity and paediatric patients, and units with high dependency patients such as oncology, coronary and palliative care to ensure patients are not affected. Non-critical and elective surgeries were expected to be delayed as a result of the mass walkout.
The Australian Medical Association's (AMA) Victorian branch president Simon Judkins said today's protest by doctors came as a last resort following over 60 meetings and six months of promises that an offer was imminent. Doctors do not want to be attending protests, he said. They want to be in their hospitals doing what they have dedicated their lives to, and that is caring for their patients.
AMA President Cites Fatigue Risks
But the reality is, they cannot do that job properly and safely with the unsustainable working conditions and staffing the government has provided. Dr Judkins said the AMA was calling for conditions consistent with other emergency services, including a 12.5-hour cap on shifts and a guarantee of three consecutive days off during a fortnight of work. As other emergency services recognise, these basic measures are critical in managing fatigue and in keeping doctors and patients safe, he said.
Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation president Dr Roderick McRae said working hours and fatigue among doctors in hospitals are so severe, they felt they had no option but to strike again. But the reality is they are being rostered on for 84-hour weeks and frequently work even longer when emergencies occur, Dr McRae said. They are often completely exhausted and burnt out, with little opportunity to rest between shifts.
The threat that this systemic fatigue presents to patient safety is simply unacceptable. He said despite more than 14 months of negotiations and more than 60 meetings with three health ministers, the state government had failed to address doctors' concerns. The Victorian hospital system is in crisis, and everyday patient safety is under threat, he said. Dr McRae said doctors had already undertaken four separate strikes in specific regional and metropolitan locations.
Government Fails to Make Offer
Over the last six months, the government has repeatedly promised doctors that an offer was imminent, he said. But despite this, we have seen absolutely nothing put forward. Health Minister Ingrid Stitt said the government was speaking with the AMA about its concerns, and hoped both parties would reach a resolution soon. Those discussions are progressing well and I am absolutely focused on making sure that they result in a settlement that everybody is comfortable with, Ms Stitt said.
Ms Stitt said strong plans were in place to ensure patient safety during the strike, and confirmed hours of work and doctor fatigue formed part of the discussions. However, the health minister could not confirm if the government had made any offers in the past 14 months, and the AMA said no offer had yet been received from the government.
Allied Health Staff Face Burnout
The doctors strike coincides with a 24-hour strike by allied health professionals, who are yet to secure a deal with the government after 12 months of negotiations. VAHPA secretary Aneta Menkinoska said Victorian allied health professionals were among the worst paid in the country. Highly experienced clinicians are leaving the workforce due to burnout and unreasonable workloads. It is not sustainable, she said.
Poor pay means we cannot retain and attract staff to fill the gaps. Why would you bother getting a four-year degree to be paid so poorly?
theage
abcnews:This story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
Allied Health Professionals Strike Victorian Hospital Pay Dispute AMA Victoria VAHPA Industrial Action
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Victorian doctors and allied health professionals strike over pay and working conditionsDoctors across Victoria walked off the job for four hours and allied health professionals for 24 hours, as year-long pay negotiations with the state government remain deadlocked.
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