Rural doctors want end to pay dispute #qldpol #smoqld #keepourdoctors
Rural medical practitioners are warning of ‘dire’ consequences if the Queensland Government and senior doctors can’t break the current impasse over pay and conditions.
The Government wants to offer senior doctors individual contracts rather than a new award-based agreement, negotiations began in August 2013.
While most of the attention has focussed on medical specialists based in metropolitan areas, the changes will also apply to the many doctors working at regional and rural public hospitals.
Rural Doctors Association of Queensland (RDAQ) president Sue Masel says she’s hopeful of a resolution soon.
“I think it’s fair to say that it’s been unrecognised that this dispute does affect the whole state.
“All of country Queensland is serviced by SMOs [senior medical officers] or VMOs [visiting medical officers].”
The State Government has given doctors until the end of April to sign-up to a new contract.
If a doctor chooses not to, they will remain a party to the current award until it expires in June 2015.
Dr Masel believes the Health Minister has addressed most of the concerns raised by the RDAQ.
“This Health Minister has a very open door policy with respect to hearing the issues from senior doctors in country Queensland.
“I feel that there’s a lot of talk of people being comfortable enough to consider signing a contract and I’m not hearing any talk of a lot of country doctors joining the mass resignation campaign at this point.”
However, Goondiwindi-based Dr Masel remains worried about the future of regional health services should doctors, en-masse, refuse to accept the new contract arrangements.
“Irrespective of how many rural doctors sign, if none of our metropolitan colleagues feel comfortable enough to sign, the health service…may well collapse.
“We don’t live in a bubble and we understand that if mass resignation goes ahead, it will have dire consequences for country Queensland as well.”
Source: ABC Rural