The Rural Doctors’ Association of South Australia (RDASA) is unhappy with a new pay deal offered to doctors working in regional hospitals.
The current contracts between Country Health SA and individual doctors expire this month.
The association’s president, Scott Lewis, said new contracts had been issued after nearly nine months of negotiations but several key recommendations had been ignored.
He said the pay increases were not in line with inflation and that the extra work doctors do, such as training interns, was not recognised.
“At this point it’s up to all the individual doctors to review the contract, determine whether or not they’re happy to accept that or whether they feel they need to [conduct] further negotiations,” he said.
“Unfortunately [the] rural doctors’ association can’t actually tell them what to do but certainly we have made them aware that we don’t endorse the contract as it stands.”
He said there was an undercurrent of unhappiness among rural GPs.
“So there is always the risk that some doctors may choose just to pack up stumps and leave their communities as a result of this, there is the potential that doctors may choose to not provide services to their local hospitals anymore, rather they’d just stick to their day-to-day consulting in their clinics,” he said.
Country Health SA said an agreement had been reached with the Australian Medical Association’s South Australian branch.
In a statement, it said the agreement was fair and appropriate to community needs and would support the important relationship the organisation had with country GPs.
Country Health SA said medical practices had a chance to review and respond to the deal and it would work closely with them.
It said rural GPs were integral to rural health services and the agreement gave them certainty for three years.