Mass Resignation is about the resolve to preserve, not destroy #qldpol #smoqld #keepourdoctors
Only once in a lifetime do we face changes like we are facing in health today.
We face a perfect storm brewed by politicians who are giddy with power, inept at managing change and so egotistical that they can’t accept counsel from their own backbenchers.
Such is the state of play that we now have all LNP MP’s under threat of not being reselected and reduced to being endorsers of whatever their oligarchy proposes. These MP’s have now become puppets of the oligarchy more so than representatives of the people to government.
When Power is expressed without compassion, destruction results. When compassion alone is expressed without power, efforts become ineffective. The perfect balance between these is hard to find but there is no doubt where the current government sits on this spectrum.
When we face such overwhelming power hell bent on implementing an ideology that we know will destroy health, we have few options.
The idea behind mass resignation is not to go nuclear and destroy the health service. That outcome rests solely with the government response and not with doctors. Mass resignations are intended to give a clear signal to government that we would rather resign than sign the unfair contracts and that we have lost faith in our government.
The idea of mass resignation is hard to digest as it feels like we are giving up the very gains for the system that we have struggled to get over the last 10 years. That we are putting at risk our families and our incomes for something that feels nebulous in a collective effort with colleagues we hardly know.
It is at times like this that we have to be inspired by the higher principles of the practice of medicine rather than the material gains of a high salary. Gandhi’s struggle for freedom and Martin Luther King’s struggle for equality are all examples of where unity over a “higher purpose” prevailed over individual self interest.
In the current context the only way to preserve what we have is to not cling to our jobs with fear as the contract would strip away all we have built in due course anyway. The health service we know would be killed off by a thousand cuts and the only way to hinder it is to act collectively and decisively now.
The SMO task force have tried hard to redress the fundamental flaws in the SMO contract and failed. The reason for the failure is an intransigent government that is yet to be convinced of our collective resolve. When we still have sweeping clauses within the contract such as dismissal without notice for affecting “reputation, viability or profitability” of the service, we know that the intent is far from preserving the cherished values of a public health service. We also have remuneration being set by a committee which will swing whichever way it is told to instead of an arbitrated body.
We want a health system where clinicians work in partnership with managers rather than as servants.
Getting the contract right is the first step in ensuring doctors stay engaged and the mistakes of Bundaberg and Mid Staffordshire aren’t repeated.
I hope you will support the Mass Resignation campaign wholeheartedly and show your resolve to get the contract right for the sake of our community than just for ourselves.
Signed….
Intensivist
Source: Facebook
Note: Hey everyone, this is a letter about the current Senior Medical Officer Contract crisis in Queensland and the possibility of the majority of the state’s specialist doctors resigning. It was written by a man I respect and he is right on the money with what he says.
Please take the time to read it and pass it on to your friends: