The union representing the specialists in their wage and working conditions claim says it expects some of the evidence to be ‘absolutely damning’.
The bitter showdown between NSW public psychiatrists and the Ministry of Health will come to a head on Monday before the full bench of the state’s Industrial Relations Commission.
Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation (ASMOF) NSW Industrial Officer Ian Lisser told Health Services Daily today that there have been no meaningful negotiations between the warring parties ahead of the compulsory arbitration, which is expected to run for all of next week.
“ASMOF has filed its relief [claim] – we have clear practical solutions to address the workforce crisis,” said Mr Lisser.
The hearing was ordered in January after negotiations over pay and workforce issues that led more than 200 psychiatrists to tender their resignations reached a stalemate.
In addition to a pay rise of 25%, the psychiatrists have also been asking for the government to commit to addressing critical workforce issues. Before the mass resignation of psychiatrists earlier this year, an estimated one in three public psychiatrist positions were unfilled.
Mr Lisser said the ministry had not reciprocated with anything new other than what was already on the table – a 10.5% wage increase over the next three years. The government has also offered an additional 10% “onerous duties allowance”, that would be immediately accessible to psychiatrists. This has not been accepted.
Given the fact that the IRC ordered ASMOF not to be involved in the mass resignation as a form of industrial action, and even though many have followed through with their resignations, it has been impossible to get actual numbers of how many have left and how many public psychiatry positions are now vacant.
Health Services Daily put these questions to NSW Health yesterday but was today told to “please direct your questions to government”. No other comments were offered.
HSD forwarded the questions to health minister Ryan Park’s office but had not received a response by deadline.
Mr Lisser told HSD that the NSW Health submission to the IRC had been provided to ASMOF, but he could not reveal details of what it contained. However, he did say that it included numbers around resignations and vacant positions.
“We’ve already gone through that and it’s full of assumptions – it can’t be trusted,” he said.
“It’s not transparent basically, so we’re still none the wiser as to the exact figures.”
He said he expected the hearing to be fiery, with both sides expected to call witnesses.
“I think it’s going to be absolutely damning,” Mr Lisser said.
“This this is just about the psychiatry workforce. The government wants to make it into something that it’s not, just a wage claim. This is about conditions as well.
“They say it’s going to cause contagion, and wage demands to blow out throughout the public sector [in other specialties] and flow on throughout NSW and into the private sector.
“But that’s just not the case.
“The IRC is going to make its decision based on the facts of the case as they are, with respect to the psychiatrists.
“Just because you’re an obstetrician doesn’t mean you can then stand up and say, well I want the same, because the staffing crisis within mental health services is unparalleled.”
The NSW government has said it will abide by the decision of the IRC – even if it means paying the 25% increase which it has said repeatedly it cannot afford.
Mr Lisser said the psychiatry workforce had already conveyed its position that any piecemeal approaches to the psychiatry crisis would result in the resignations being made permanent.
“It’s very unlikely that those psychiatrists who have resigned will come back,” he said.
“Those that are on VMO contracts will not necessarily renew their VMO contracts. And the staff that is still in the system … there’s no guarantee that they will stay. And my view is that they won’t.”