Doctors prepared to resign en masse if a contract dispute is not resolved #qldpol #smoqld #keepourdoctors
DOCTORS are prepared to resign en masse if they are not satisfied with the Health Minister’s attempt to address concerns over proposed work contract conditions.
At a rally at QEII hospital in Coopers Plains, about 40 doctors and medical staff turned out in support of the Keep Our Doctors campaign, run by the Together Union with the Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation and the AMA.
Assistant secretary of the Together Union, Kate Flanders, said tomorrow night around 1000 doctors were expected to gather at the Brisbane Convention Centre in the Plaza Terrace Room.
The group would discuss the details of Health Minister Lawrence Springborg’s proposed resolution to the contract dispute following his re-entry into negotiations on Monday afternoon, which was considered a breakthrough by the unions.
Also at the meeting, Ms Flanders said the next step of the Keep Our Doctors campaign would be put in place which was a mass resignation of senior medical officers.
QEII anaesthetist Michael Kao, speaking on behalf of the campaign, said he was prepared to quit after 10 years working in the Queensland public health system and had gone on long-service leave due to the stress of the contract dispute.
“Like everyone else I’ve been trying to keep up to date with details and we hear different things each time,” he said.
“Unless it’s in writing, we don’t have any trust in the government to do what it says.
“I’m prepared to follow everyone else in a mass resignation.”
Mr Kao said he had opportunities to move into private health, a move he had not considered until now because he enjoyed the chance to train registrars.
“I love teaching and QEII has been very proud of our success — we have had registrars achieve in the top five per cent in the region which includes New Zealand and Malaysia.
“The current award is fair, but there is absolutely no security with these contracts and we’ve already lost a few very good colleagues due to this.
“You would not expect a pilot to fly a plane for 24 hours so why would you want that for someone who’s about to cut you open?
“Disputes like this affect our family lives, we’ve made a lot of sacrifices to become specialists, I was even on-call on my wedding night.”