Doctors contracts dispute: What it means for health services in the bush #qldpol #smoqld #keepourdoctors
Hundreds of senior medical officers in Queensland are threatening to quit over new State Government contracts. But what does it mean for health services in the bush?
The president of the Rural Doctors Association of Queensland says she expects many senior medical officers (SMOs) in rural areas will sign the new contracts.
Dr Sue Masel says most rural doctors are “very tied” to their communities.
“Because they do everything in those communities – they are the GPs, they are the hospital doctors they deliver the babies, they hold the hands in palliative care,” she said.
“They are very loathe to walk away from those communities in any kind of, even a threatened strike action, which is what it amounts to for 2,000 Queensland doctors to say ‘I refuse to sign a contract as of this date’.
“And I think that’s probably one of the reasons why rural doctors across the state have been a bit calmer in considering the contract and would not walk away unless they considered their position under the new contract to be completely untenable.
“It’s for that reason that I expect a higher proportion of rural doctors to be willing to sign a contract.”
However, she says rural areas of Queensland will still be in a health “crisis” if city doctors walk off the job.
“Rural doctors wouldn’t have anyone to refer their very sick patients to in city hospitals, wouldn’t have any visiting specialist services to back us up, wouldn’t have the benefit of Retrieval Services Queensland’s service taking our sickest patients in that hour of need to the kind of places where they need to be.
“We can’t just live in a bubble and think that if rural doctors sign we’ll be okay because I don’t think that’s true.”
What are doctors’ concerns about the new contracts?
Dr Masel says the former industrial agreement for senior doctors in the public health system were “so specific”.
“I think what’s happening to doctors in this dispute is that it’s such a paradigm shift to move from a guaranteed, carefully negotiated, point by point agreement, industrial tool under which everyone in the state has the same employment conditions, over to a situation where I will now have a direct ’employee employer’ relationship with my own health service board,” she said.
“So I will be employed much more locally in the local area where I live and work.
“And the new framework is not quite as directive and allows my (Health and Human Services Department) more discretion to make changes as they see fit and to negotiate, to a certain extent, local terms and conditions in line with the workforce needs.”
The Rural Doctor’s Association of Queensland has sent a written submission to Queensland Health, outlining its concern about “Queensland Health’s ability to unilaterally vary contracts”.
“In simple terms many members would not consider entering into a commercial contract where the other party has capacity to vary the contract,” the statement reads.
The Rural Doctor’s Association of Queensland has advised its members that it has received a response from Health Minister Lawrence Springborg.
“Minister Springborg has agreed with the principle of our recommendation and has committed to issuing a directive to the Deputy-General that prior to amending or repealing Health Employment Directives (HED) for senior doctors, consultation must occur with the contract advisory committee which will include representation of senior doctors.”
Queensland Health Minister Lawrence Springborg has ruled out an extension to the April 30 deadline for signing contracts, but has allowed any doctors who want to resign to give two months’ notice instead of three.
Source: ABC News