Doctor says contracts row takes toll on morale #qldpol #smoqld #keepourdoctors
A Toowoomba doctor says the dispute between the medical fraternity and the Queensland Government over contracts for senior doctors has hurt morale.
The Australian Medical Association (AMA) Queensland says an addendum to the controversial contracts that address issues such as rosters, transfers and unfair dismissal, should encourage senior medical officers to sign up.
Dr Robert Brodribb says the development is encouraging but the drawn-out negotiations have taken their toll.
“I’ve been a specialist for 28 years and I’ve never seen the amount of anger generated by this process among my colleagues,” he said.
Dr Brodribb says more issues need addressing.
“To me my main concern is the arbitration. The process of involving the deputy president of the arbitration committee, I really want to see the detail of that,” he said.
The chairman of the Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service board, Mike Horan, says doctors and management have conducted the negotiations in good faith.
“Two chief executives who are both doctors and specialists in their own right have conducted very respectful negotiations with our doctors and provided all the information that’s available to them,” he said.
He says he is confident most doctors will sign the new contracts by the April 30 deadline.
“Given the leadership of the AMA has the confidence to recommend to doctors that they now sign, we’d be hopeful that those doctors would sign the contracts now that they’ve got that advice from their leadership,” he said.
Source: ABC News