Orhan Karakaya has been in and out of hospital his entire adult life living with ulcerative colitis.
Never in that time has he seen doctors in the state take strike action, but with a drip in his arm, Karakaya came out to support the rally outside Westmead hospital.
Tuesday is the first of three days of industrial action being taken by public sector doctors in New South Wales who say they have the worst wages and working conditions of doctors anywhere in the country.
“I think it’s a ridiculous joke they’re having to be here and strike. They don’t want to strike, they want to care for us,” Karakaya said.
“They need to be respected not only in their job, but in their pay. They do a wonderful job. I can’t speak highly enough about the good service.”
The doctors’ union, the Australian Salaried Medical Officers’ Federation (Asmof), said patient safety will not be compromised during the action with emergency departments and critical care units to remain safely staffed, with only non-urgent procedures postponed.
Asmof president, Dr Nicholas Spooner, said “Doctors are not asking for the world. We’re asking for safe working hours, a minimum 10-hour break between shifts, and proper staffing so people don’t have to wait hours to see a doctor in emergency.”
Hundreds of elective surgeries at public hospitals are expected to be cancelled, as well as some clinic appointments with a specialist. Emergency services, critical care units, emergency surgery, and trauma services will continue as normal with the union saying it has ensured at a minimum that public holiday staffing levels are maintained across services.
Not all of the more than 5,000 doctors participating in the action will be walking off the job, with numbers limited based on the union’s discussions with senior staff within each hospitals’ departments about what action can be taken without compromising patient safety.
Dr Lucy Bates, a uro-gynaecologist for Western Sydney local health district, said she is striking for safe working hours as “my children don’t get to see me”.
“They can go days without seeing me because of the hours that we’re putting in,” Bates said.
“I’m also striking to try keep the good people in the health system – we are burned out, walking out because we’re not getting enough support.”
According to the union, doctors are striking in response to chronic doctor shortages across NSW hospitals, unsafe hours including widespread 16-hour back-to-back shifts, fatigue and burnout, leading to staff resignations and poor retention, with NSW doctors leaving for significantly better conditions interstate and a lack of genuine negotiation with the government.
The union says better working conditions could attract more staff and rosters could be better filled out with safe working hours.
Doctors are demanding a 30% pay increase over a “reasonable” period of time in order to bring their pay to parity with other states.
The Minns government has offered 10.5% over three years, although acknowledging doctors like all public sector workers suffered “wage suppression” as a result of the previous Coalition government’s wage cap.
Asmof has proceeded with the industrial action defying orders from the Industrial Relations Commission to refrain from doing so.
Dr Mark Priestly told the rally: “We’re here because we want to see total award reform.
“We’re here because we want to be here for our patients.
“I’m very proud of my colleagues not just for being here today but for staying in the public health system. We just want to stay here and do what we love doing, which is looking after our patients.”
However, Priestly said doctors are walking out because they have been in discussions with the government for over a year and not seen any meaningful interest in working towards award reform.
Priestly said doctors were asking for “simple conditions” like obstetricians being paid for coming in after hours to deliver a baby.
“We want simple things that any man in the street, any patient would expect and exist in other states.”
Dr Zachary McPherson, a paediatrician and Asmof member, said there were huge vacancy and resourcing issues. Although departments might be “fully staffed”, he said, there were waiting lists stretching out into the years because there had not been a change in the number of staff working in departments for years despite the population growing significantly.
