Around 200 psychiatrists were expected to resign from NSW’s public health system this week.
NSW Mental Health Minister Rose Jackson said around 100 of these resignations have been withdrawn or delayed.
Jackson said the Government and the doctors’ union would meet with the state’s workplace umpire in March.
The union, called the(ASMOF), said it wants to sit down with the State Government before then.
Background
, the Royal Australian & New Zealand College of Psychiatrists confirmed more than 200 had submitted resignations to NSW Health, “citing safety concerns”.
Around 140 psychiatrists in the public system decided to resign in NSW in 2024.
These mass resignations come amid an ongoing dispute between the ASMOF and the State Government.
Theis calling for a pay increase and for the Government to address the high vacancy and low retention rates of psychiatrists.
Negotiations
ASMOF has been asking for an immediate 25% pay increase to bring NSW psychiatrists’ wages in line with other jurisdictions. It’s also calling on the Government to deal with the workforce’s decreasing numbers.
The NSW Government has offered a 10.5% pay increase, which includes 1% superannuation, over three years.
It’s also offered a 10% ‘onerous’ allowance. This is a payment psychiatrists can apply for when they have worked excessive hours.
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ASMOF executive director Andrew Holland told TDA: “The pay increase isn’t just about accounting for 40 hours a week of work but for the excessive additional hours [psychiatrists] work.”
Holland said further details on the 10% onerous allowance are yet to be provided, but “it’s an acknowledgment from the Government that there’s a problem.”
NSW psychiatrists due to resign
On Tuesday, Jackson said 205 psychiatrists in NSW intended to resign in recent weeks.
Of these, 25 had “rescinded” their intention to resign, and a further 81 psychiatrists had “delayed or suspended their resignation,” Jackson said.
This means around 100 psychiatrists are set to resign from the public workforce this week or next.
Locums
Locums are health professionals – in this case psychiatrists – who temporarily fill job vacancies.
NSW Health Deputy Secretary Matthew Daly said on Tuesday that “in an ideal world” 200 locums would replace 200 resignations. However, “the workforce just doesn’t exist anywhere in the country,” he said.
Holland said locums are an “unsustainable” and “unaffordable” solution to filling the vacancies in psychiatry, particularly long term.
What’s next?
ASMOF and the State Government are now preparing for a five-day hearing. It’ll be held by the Industrial Relations Commission beginning on 17 March.
Holland said ASMOF are reaching out to the NSW Government to hold negotiations ahead of the hearing to try come to an agreement.
