Doctors rally at Logan over contracts and warn Campbell Newman that they cannot be easily replaced by overseas staff. #qldpol #keepourdoctors #smoqld
DOCTORS stood defiant over the individual contracts debate at a Logan Hospital rally today, warning that the Premier’s threat to bring in overseas staff would not stop resignations.
More than 100 doctors, nurses and supporters spent their lunch break protesting the contracts and gathering support for a possible mass resignation if the government did not back down.
Angry staff chanted “SMOs say no” as they considered quitting if significant changes were not made to controversial new contracts to commence from July.
They scoffed at Premier Campbell Newman’s promise to bring in staff from interstate or overseas if necessary.
Logan Hospital Medical Staff Association president Jeff Crawford said the government had underestimated the difficulty of replacing up to 1000 senior medical officers around the state with foreign staff.
Mr Crawford, the rally’s keynote speaker, added that processing overseas doctors could take six to 12 months, which would leave “a significant lag” between outgoing and incoming doctors.
“Specialists coming from overseas need to undergo a rigorous and onerous credentialing process,” he said.
“That process requires approval and credentialing from our respective specialist colleges and those colleges will not pass people in a hurry to get their credentials, they will stick to the credentialing process.”
Mr Crawford added that if doctors were forced to quit, there could be significant ramifications on the quality of the health system.
“So if he’s suggesting that we get underqualified people from overseas, the patients of Queensland should be desperately worried about that,” he said.
Health Minister Lawrence Springborg this week announced changes to sweeten the deal on new contracts, but that has done little to curb doctors’ concerns.
“This contract is a multi-organ failure and on life support and the best suggestion from the Health Minister has been simply to stick a bandaid on it,” Mr Crawford said.
Doctors must sign the contracts by April 30 or risk losing up to 30 per cent of their pay.