Queensland doctors feel forced to walk over government contracts dispute #qldpol #smoqld #keepourdoctors
QUEENSLAND Health will have to replace every emergency physician from at least four public hospitals if the contracts dispute is not resolved.
Emergency specialists met in Brisbane on Tuesday night to discuss the impasse.
Speaking on behalf of the doctors, Christa Bell and David Spain said every public ED specialist at Townsville, Cairns, Robina and the Gold Coast University Hospital had pledged to leave rather than sign.
“The message from the Government is that they’re actually wanting us to resign by not giving us a fair contract,’’ Dr Spain said.
Dr Bell said the Government was using public hospital doctors and patients to push an ideological industrial agenda. “I want to just go back to work, see patients, do my job and for this to be over,’’ she said.
Late Tuesday, almost 150 emergency specialists unanimously called on the Newman Government to enter into “meaningful negotiations’’ with doctor representatives to change relevant legislation and contract terms to urgently resolve the dispute.
The Brisbane meeting also passed a resolution to inform Premier Campbell Newman and Health Minister Lawrence Springborg that the individual contracts were unacceptable in their current form.