ANZCA President writes about Qld dispute #qldpol #smoqld #keepourdoctors
Many Fellows and trainees will be following the dispute between the Queensland government and its medical workforce over plans to introduce new individual contracts for senior doctors in Queensland’s public hospitals. There is talk of mass resignations by specialists, including anaesthetists and pain medicine physicians, and the College has received numerous emails from concerned trainees and Fellows.
I have contributed to a joint statementand letter to the Queensland Minister for Health from all college presidents. Dr Mark Young, ANZCA Queensland Regional Committee chair, has been liaising at a state level with the chairs of the other colleges. Brendan Moore, FPM Dean, Mark and I have written to all Queensland trainees and Fellows, as well as the Queensland Minister for Health. Paramount to the College response is patient safety, standards of clinical care, the welfare of ANZCA and FPM trainees, and the integrity of their training and supervision.
While the College, including FPM, does not get involved in industrial matters, if training, supervision and hospital accreditation standards are compromised, we will certainly act. To this end, the ANZCA Executive Committee is monitoring the situation closely. We are, of course, hopeful that there will be resolution without training being affected. However, should the situation escalate, we have engaged key Fellows and committees to lead our further response.
Source: ANZCA E-Newsletter