Melbourne public hospital doctors to strike next week

Doctors will walk off the job at several major public hospitals in Melbourne next week as a pay dispute with the government continues. The industrial action will see doctors stop work on August 13 from 12:30pm until 4pm, forcing hospitals to reschedule appointments. Doctors working in emergency medicine will not take part in the strike. Victorian doctors will walk off the job next week at some of the state's busiest hospitals as part of a pay dispute with the state government. It will be the first protected industrial action at Victorian public hospitals for 20 years. The Australian Medical Association Victoria (AMAV) said public hospital doctors will stop work at hospitals in Parkville and Melbourne's CBD for several hours on August 13. The work ban, involving members of the Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation, will run from 12:30pm until 4pm and workers will rally in Grattan Street in the city. Hospitals affected include the Royal Melbourne Hospital, the Royal Children's Hospital and the Royal Women's Hospital as well as other facilities. AMAV said affected hospitals have been asked to reschedule non-life-threatening appointments on that day. It is understood doctors in emergency departments and other critical frontline services will not take part in the work ban. AMAV president Simon Jenkins said doctors had tried to negotiate a better deal with the government over pay and conditions for 12 months. "Up to 50 per cent of, particularly our doctors in training, report incredibly high levels of fatigue and stress, and they're incredibly worried in those conditions about whether they might be prone to making errors," he said. "Many of our doctors still don't get paid for overtime, a lot of our consultants are on call after hours and don't get paid for overtime. "We're also looking at shifts, shift fatigue, making sure doctors get adequate breaks when they're on work." AMAV said 97 per cent of union members voted in favour of the protected industrial action. In addition to the work bans at the major Melbourne public hospitals, doctors will also begin other statewide actions, such as disrupting billing of patients and refusing to do unscheduled overtime. Doctors will also refuse to answer emails and phone calls from hospital management.