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Sydney Morning Herald
21-05-2025
- Health
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Marred by dysfunction': Doctors blow whistle as hospital deadline looms
Doctors at Northern Beaches Hospital have warned chronic understaffing and a dysfunctional patient record system pose significant risks to patients, sounding the alarm on dozens of incidents and near-misses that will pile further pressure on the state government to take control of the troubled hospital. In a submission filed on Tuesday to a parliamentary inquiry, the Australian Salaried Medical Officers' Federation (ASMOF) NSW said the hospital's private operator 'prioritises profit over safety' by rostering minimum staff on weekends, relying on lower-paid junior doctors and failing to update its outdated electronic medical records (EMR) system. 'Our members who have worked at [Northern Beaches Hospital] are hard-working, dedicated and capable doctors,' the union's president, Dr Nicholas Spooner, wrote. 'However, they are working in a system that does not adequately support them and is, in some respects, marred by dysfunction.' The doctors said the EMR, which differs from that used in NSW public hospitals, was not fit for purpose and 'frequently crashes for hours at a time'. On one such occasion, a doctor was unable to check the antibiotic history of a septic patient whose condition was rapidly declining. 'The failure of the EMR had a direct consequence on patient safety,' the doctor said. An audit released last month found the hospital's operator and the government both had known about 'quality and safety risks' with the records system since the hospital opened in 2018. Health Minister Ryan Park said Healthscope, which operates the hospital under a controversial public-private partnership, was 'trying to rebuild' the system in response to the recommendations. Some doctors reported working more than 70 hours in one week, and waking for 10-hour shifts after getting less than two hours' sleep while on-call overnight. Others warned of microsleeps while driving home from a night shift. This workload left junior doctors with increased responsibility under less supervision, the union said. In one case, a doctor training as an anaesthetist was rostered for the first week on night shifts in obstetrics 'despite not being accredited to perform epidurals'.
The Age
21-05-2025
- Health
- The Age
‘Marred by dysfunction': Doctors blow whistle as hospital deadline looms
Doctors at Northern Beaches Hospital have warned chronic understaffing and a dysfunctional patient record system pose significant risks to patients, sounding the alarm on dozens of incidents and near-misses that will pile further pressure on the state government to take control of the troubled hospital. In a submission filed on Tuesday to a parliamentary inquiry, the Australian Salaried Medical Officers' Federation (ASMOF) NSW said the hospital's private operator 'prioritises profit over safety' by rostering minimum staff on weekends, relying on lower-paid junior doctors and failing to update its outdated electronic medical records (EMR) system. 'Our members who have worked at [Northern Beaches Hospital] are hard-working, dedicated and capable doctors,' the union's president, Dr Nicholas Spooner, wrote. 'However, they are working in a system that does not adequately support them and is, in some respects, marred by dysfunction.' The doctors said the EMR, which differs from that used in NSW public hospitals, was not fit for purpose and 'frequently crashes for hours at a time'. On one such occasion, a doctor was unable to check the antibiotic history of a septic patient whose condition was rapidly declining. 'The failure of the EMR had a direct consequence on patient safety,' the doctor said. An audit released last month found the hospital's operator and the government both had known about 'quality and safety risks' with the records system since the hospital opened in 2018. Health Minister Ryan Park said Healthscope, which operates the hospital under a controversial public-private partnership, was 'trying to rebuild' the system in response to the recommendations. Some doctors reported working more than 70 hours in one week, and waking for 10-hour shifts after getting less than two hours' sleep while on-call overnight. Others warned of microsleeps while driving home from a night shift. This workload left junior doctors with increased responsibility under less supervision, the union said. In one case, a doctor training as an anaesthetist was rostered for the first week on night shifts in obstetrics 'despite not being accredited to perform epidurals'.
ABC News
07-05-2025
- Health
- ABC News
This young doctor says the public health system has become 'toxic' and fears it could kill him
As a junior doctor in a busy New South Wales emergency department, Dr Fahad Khan expected long hours, high stress and the pressure of life-or-death decisions. What he didn't expect was the creeping fear that his job might kill him. Only weeks into his first year, after working multiple 15-hour shifts in a row, Dr Khan found himself slipping into microsleeps behind the wheel on the drive home. "Within about five to ten minutes of driving I'll start to have microsleeps," he said. "When I get to the lights I might fall asleep, and then I'll get a beep and a nice person swearing at me through the window." Dr Khan did multiple 15-hour shifts in a row while working in an emergency department. ( ABC News: Che Chorley ) To survive the commute he came up with strategies: pulling over to nap or keeping a friend on the phone for the entire 40-minute drive. For the past two months Their dispute with the NSW government has reached an impasse with no resolution in sight, according to the doctors' union, the Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation (ASMOF). Dr Khan, who is paid $38 an hour, said the situation is unsustainable. A "I just think it's very disappointing that junior doctors have to, collectively, have a plan on how to not die when you're driving home," he said. Things the public don't see Dr Fahad Khan says one of his colleagues admitted to wetting the bed at night due to stress. ( ABC News ) To endure the relentless pressure of the job, Dr Khan says he and his colleagues have found themselves confiding in each other about deeply personal, often distressing experiences. "There's just some really ugly things that the public isn't aware about," he said. He says he recalls one colleague getting kidney stones — twice — because he couldn't find the time to drink water or take a toilet break during punishing shifts. Another doctor admitted to wetting the bed at night, overwhelmed by stress. One even discovered, to his horror, that he had soiled himself without realising it. Dr Khan believes the NSW public health system has become toxic for doctors, with many fleeing to other states or leaving medicine altogether. "An exodus would be a good way to describe it," he said. Dr Jemma Cho left psychiatry after she "lost trust in the system". ( Supplied ) Psychiatrist Dr Jemma Cho is one of them. Nine months ago she walked away from her medical career. She had worked as a registrar at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney and Lismore Base Hospital, but says the working conditions left her emotionally depleted and disillusioned. "I was incredibly burnt out and I had lost trust in the system. It was bleak," Dr Cho said. "I didn't feel like I was making a difference in the way that I wanted. I lost sense of meaning for my job and [it] just wasn't worth it anymore for me." Earlier this year, more then 200 NSW psychiatrists resigned from their jobs in protest over a pay dispute with the Minns government. Their case will be decided by the Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) which began hearing expert evidence on Wednesday. Crisis escalates Public hospital doctors went on strike over pay and conditions in Sydney in April. ( ABC News: Abbey Haberecht ) In early April doctors across NSW walked off the job for three days in a rare and dramatic protest. They called for a number of key changes including a guaranteed 10-hour break between shifts to ensure safe working hours, and pay parity with doctors in other states — which would require a 30 per cent increase. But their demands were dismissed by the government as "unrealistic". Premier Chris Minns said meeting those demands would cost taxpayers an additional $11 billion and further strain an already overburdened health budget. Dr Tom Morrison says the NSW health system has "deep cultural problems". ( Supplied ) Neurosurgery registrar Dr Tom Morrison, who represented the doctors during negotiations, said talks have stalled. "I don't think it's ambitious to be asked to have safe working hours," Dr Morrison told 7.30. "I don't think it's ambitious to not have to work 30 hours [continuously] treating patients, and I don't think it's ambitious to be asked to be paid the same as every other state." Dr Morrison, based at Liverpool Hospital in Sydney, said tensions escalated sharply in the lead-up to the strike. Two days before the planned walkout, the Department of Health sent a letter to doctors warning they could be referred to medical regulators if they proceeded. The IRC had earlier ruled that doctors must not strike for at least three months. Dr Morrison says he and his peers took that as a threat. "These are bodies for serious professional misconduct, not for people who are standing up saying, 'we're working in an unsafe system',"Dr Morrison said. " People were just astounded that there's been such a dramatic escalation. " Public hospital doctors from Coffs Harbour Hospital on strike in April. ( ABC News: Toby Hemmings ) Then came the claim by the government that hundreds of chemotherapy appointments had been cancelled due to the strike. Days later Health minister Ryan Park's office admitted the information was incorrect. Dr Morrison said the accusation was offensive and that he felt that the government was trying to suggest that doctors are putting patients' lives at risk. "I don't think anything the government's done has encouraged doctors to work for NSW Health," he said. " If anything they've made it clear that the system has these deep cultural problems … and now it's in crisis. " Mr Park declined 7.30's request for an interview, and he didn't respond to questions. Instead his office pointed to his statements made in previous press conferences. Is pay rise a 'sugar hit'? Professor Jeffrey Braithwaite says doctors deserve a pay rise but that it would only be a "sugar hit". ( ABC News: Shaun Kingma ) A special commission of inquiry is looking at how we can better fund the healthcare system in NSW. Professor Jeffrey Braithwaite, founding director of Macquarie University's Australian Institute of Health Innovation , serves as a member of the inquiry's expert panel. He said funding health is a complicated challenge. "Healthcare is like a black hole. You could pour dollars into it and not reach the bottom," Professor Braithwaite said. While he sympathises with the NSW doctors' demands, including calls for a pay rise, Professor Braithwaite believes that increasing salaries won't solve the deeper issues within the system. Many public hospitals are not operating efficiently, Professor Braithwaite says. ( ABC News: Paulina Vidal ) "There's a case for them to be paid more … but after that you just reckon you deserved it, and that's what you're worth now — so it's only a sugar hit," he said. Professor Braithwaite's research into modern healthcare systems, including NSW's public hospitals, has revealed that many of them could operate much more efficiently. His findings show that 60 per cent of healthcare provided is of high quality, 30 per cent is wasted due to bureaucracy or inefficiencies, and 10 per cent results in actual harm to patients, including accidents and errors. Shifting these numbers, he said, is essential for meaningful reform. "These numbers have remained fairly sticky for a couple of decades," he said. "It's not good enough". Watch , Mondays to Thursdays 7:30pm on and ABC TV Contact 7.30 Do you know more about this story? Get in touch with 7.30
The Guardian
02-04-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Doctors in NSW public hospitals threaten three-day strike over pay dispute, defying ban
Thousands of doctors in public hospitals across New South Wales are threatening to strike for the first time in decades as they seek a pay rise of up to 30%, as the state government warns the action could halt elective surgeries. Doctors have threatened a three-day walkout from public hospitals from Tuesday. It marks the latest medical industrial dispute to potentially escalate into diminished patient care, after Guardian Australia on Wednesday revealed that the mass resignation of public psychiatrists over pay and conditions has led to the closure of the HIV psychiatry clinic at Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred's hospital. The threat came after the Australian Salaried Medical Officers' Federation (ASMOF) defied orders from the state's Industrial Relations Commission to cease organising and refrain from action for the next three months – a defiance which the union acknowledged could lead to fines. In discussions over a new pay deal, ASMOF has sought a pay rise of as much as 30% without specifying a time period. The Minns government has offered 10.5% over three years. Ryan Park, the NSW health minister, on Wednesday conceded that doctors in his state had suffered 'wage suppression' as a result of the previous Coalition government's public sector 2.5% wage cap. However, Park noted that several other public workforces, such as nurses and midwives, were simultaneously seeking large corrective increases and said the government could not realistically meet such demands in one year. He said granting the doctors' union demands would cost the state $11bn. Park said the pay rise doctors were demanding could see a $75,000 a year boost for some doctors already on $400,000 packages. But he later acknowledged junior doctors, who comprise the majority of the state's workforce, could be on $78,000 salaries – $12,000 less than what they could earn in Queensland's public system. Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter Park said asking a government to meet a 30% increase 'in a single year' was 'simply not realistic'. He was due to talk with the union again on Wednesday afternoon, and reiterated his offer to grant an immediate 3% rise in backpay – as a gesture to get senior officials to return to a two-week intensive period of negotiations for the broader deal. The NSW government remains in a deadlock negotiating with rail unions seeking pay rises in excess of 30%. It has struggled to talk down demands from unions after agreeing to an up to 40% pay rise for police in November. ASMOF's NSW director, Andrew Holland, said doctors were striking for the first time since 1998 over unsustainable workloads, chronic understaffing, and unsafe working hours. 'The decision hasn't been taken lightly. The decision is a last resort,' he told reporters outside RPA on Wednesday. He stressed that patient safety would be maintained, with critical care and emergency areas unaffected by potential staff shortages. Intensive care specialist Dr Behny Samadi said doctors were at breaking point. 'This is not something we want to do,' she said. Sign up to Afternoon Update: Election 2025 Our Australian afternoon update breaks down the key election campaign stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Samadi said the strike would not endanger patients, who would understand why doctors were taking action. 'We're actually doing this for their best interest, because we want a well-functioning, sustainable public health system that treats them well,' she said. While was not yet known how many doctors might walk off the job, Park claimed that if work stoppages proceeded, elective surgeries would likely be hit with disruptions. 'I understand doctors do not want to put patients at risk, I'm not making that accusation, but as the minister, I've also got to be very clear and transparent, in the same way that we were in nurses industrial action,' he sais. 'This does have an impact. Elective surgery will likely need to be cancelled. That does have an impact, and I can't pretend that it doesn't.' – with Australian Associated Press
The Guardian
16-03-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Australia news live: Chalmers says Cyclone Alfred to add $1.2bn to budget deficit; body of missing six-year-old girl found in bushland
Natasha May In a statement released ahead of the arbitration beginning this morning in Sydney, the president of the doctor's union, the Australian Salaried Medical Officers' Federation (Asmof), Dr. Nick Spooner said: My psychiatrist colleagues are burnt out, and there is no light at the end of the tunnel. They are dedicated to providing the best care for their patients, but they cannot provide safe care under these conditions. The solution to this crisis is not complicated. It's about valuing psychiatrists, paying them fairly, and ensuring that NSW has enough doctors to provide the care patients deserve. The Minns government has a choice—fix the problem or let the system collapse completely.' As part of the arbitration proceedings, ASMOF will call on the Minns government to act immediately to fix the crisis by urgently recruiting additional psychiatrists to fill vacancies, fully funding training and registration fees to attract new doctors, and providing a 25% pay increase for psychiatrists to stem the flow of doctors leaving NSW. They also want to see the establishment of a formal Psychiatry Workforce Committee to oversee staffing and recruitment and implement a structured dispute resolution process to improve working conditions. Share Natasha May The doctors union is warning the NSW government's refusal to take action on the psychiatrists workforce crisis is putting lives at risk, as the matter goes to arbitration today. Psychiatrists resigned en masse from staff specialist positions last month after the government rejected their proposed solution of a special levy to increase their pay by 25%, similar to that which emergency doctors received in 2015. With 140 vacancies unfilled before the mass resignation, doctors claimed the rise in pay would stem the cycle of specialist doctors leaving the public system because of the untenable workload for those left, and the moral injury felt being unable to give patients the quality of care they want to. The NSW government asked the Industrial Relations Commission to urgently intervene in January, with the date for expedited arbitration a full bench of the commission to hear the dispute set from 17-21 March. Of the 206 who intended to resign, 62 have followed through with resignations but many more have either deferred their resignations or transferred to visiting medical officer contracts whilst they await the outcome of the IRC process. Share Good morning. Politicians have been warned against 'election sweeteners' as economists flag growing fiscal holes in Australia's budget, AAP reports. Treasurer Jim Chalmers has started feeding commitments to the public ahead of the 25 March budget and is expected to announce disaster recovery funds for Queensland and northern NSW communities battered by ex-tropical cyclone Alfred. The cyclone is projected to add at least $1.2bn to the upcoming budget, on top o f $11.6bn blocked out for disaster support, new figures show. It has already dealt a billion-dollar hit to GDP, could wipe one quarter of a percentage point from quarterly growth, caused the economy to shed 12 million work hours, and could put upwards pressure on inflation. In New South Wales, the body of a six-year-old girl has been found in bushland north of Nowra after as wide scale search and rescue operation was launched on Sunday. Inquiries are underway. Still in NSW, the premier, Chris Minns, has announced a mini cabinet reshuffle, triggered by the resignation of former transport minister Jo Haylen last month. Interim transport minister John Graham will permanently remain in the portfolio, and Lismore MP Janelle Saffin will be promoted to a ministerial position. And arbitration over a mass-resignation of psychiatrists in NSW over industrial disputes will begin today – more on that to come. I'm Caitlin Cassidy, let's get into it. Share
