Doctors moving out of Queensland public health system as the contracts’ dispute continues #qldpol #smoqld #keepourdoctors
Member for Gaven Dr Alex Douglas MP told parliament today there would be a massive exodus of highly trained Queensland medical staff from the state’s public hospital over the senior medical officers’ contracts deadlock.
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“Doctors are ropeable over how they are being treated by the Health Minister Lawrence Springborg and they will never trust him again,” he said.
“Today I asked the Premier to take control of the situation, but he avoided the question and diverted to his normal rhetoric of the Blues Brothers and the Tahitian Prince.
“Minister Springborg has betrayed their trust and will be damned for ever for doing so, by putting Queensland hospitals to the sword and betraying the trust of the public.
“Do LNP members feel ashamed at destroying the careers of the very people who do anything to prioritise patients’ needs over their own needs 100 percent of the time, every day of the week, every week of the year, year upon year until they retire?
“Our doctors are highly principled people and LNP MPs have shown gross contempt for doctors in failing to negotiate fair contracts for them.
“If nothing else, all doctors will utterly reject anything put forward by Minister Springborg for his reckless, exaggerated misuse of the Auditor General’s report into private practice in Queensland Health.
“They are resolute, have right on their side and will not be stared down by the Health Minister, the Premier or the LNP.
“There appears to be a total lack of understanding and reasonable acceptance that the former contracts for doctors were drafted to address all sorts of concerns including provision of highly experienced and qualified medical staff working in teams to provide the best care at all times for patients who need health care.
“The Minister claimed today that $800 million had been wasted, but this is incorrect. The money was spent, but it was consumed by the modifications to the contract to maintain a competitive environment almost totally.
“This is not to say that it is inappropriate to continue to investigate any rorts, but to shoot everyone else who diligently work in the health system in the pursuit of a very small group, is insanity.
“He is misleading Queenslanders by implying there is a systemic issue that so conclusively affects all Queensland Health staff and medical workforce that he must take such a step putting them all to the sword.
“There will be a massive exodus of highly trained medical staff and the idea of replacing everyone as a kind of pilots’ dispute mark II is not just irrational, it’s a kind of collective suicide for which we will all suffer.
“Each MP here, all of their constituents, their families and everybody else will suffer because of this irrational, insane decision, which has been driven by ideological reasons and brinkmanship.
“Isn’t it time to replace the Minister who can’t even be truthful about his knowledge of Dr Christian Rowan, Australian Medical Association’s Queensland president, membership of the LNP ? In Parliament, he said that he did not know and that is not true.