AMA Tasmania president Dr Stuart Day said the state government was “failing miserably to attract doctors”. 

Doctors from the Launceston General Hospital and Royal Hobart Hospital met on Wednesday night to discuss a lack of progress in enterprise bargaining negotiations, with professional action imminent. 

Doctors are calling for safer working hours and improved conditions. 

Health Minister Michael Ferguson said the state government had met the AMA for formal negotiations on five occasions this year.

“Negotiations are continuing through regular meetings,” he said. 

Mr Ferguson said just as government had “negotiated and agreed wage increases with a number of other health professionals including nurses and midwives, paramedics, radiation therapists and allied health professionals, we will continue to work constructively with the AMA to reach a fair pay deal”. 

Dr Day said “despite our goodwill, this is just another example of doctors’ concerns being ignored by hospital management.”

“This is a situation that cannot continue and the Tasmanian Health Service is in jeopardy,” Dr Day said.

“Rather than give up and cross over to private, public hospital doctors resolved to implement professional action in support of our patients and access to world-class public healthcare.

“This action is aimed at ensuring the hospital will operate as it should, with quality patient care led by highly skilled medical practitioners who are supported and work under safe conditions.”

Dr Day said the “blowout of locum costs for the North and North-West” was evidence of the state government’s failure to attract doctors.

“Tasmanian doctors are the lowest paid and endure some of the worst work conditions in Australia, making it an unattractive option for many young doctors, both to move here or stay here for work,” he said. 

“Tasmania needs to attract the best and the brightest doctors to work in our state, as the community deserve nothing less.”

The AMA urged Health Minister Michael Ferguson to come to the table on negotiations. 

Dr Day said professional action was about “putting patients first, reducing all the things that are done around the side and extra that don’t directly contribute to patient care”.

“It’s administration, working through the committee structures of hospitals to build … newer systems … doctors are going to pull back from doing that,” Dr Day said. 

He said the state government had offered doctors a 2 pay cent pay increase.

Dr Day said AMA Tasmania was looking for “wages and conditions that put us on par with what doctors working in the public health systems in the other states are paid”. 

“That’s not a single number, that’s a variable number depending on what it takes to attract the best, we need to keep our doctors,” Dr Day said. 

Another AMA meeting is scheduled for early May to consider further professional actions depending on progress.