Australia’s Doctors Go on Strike

More than 7,000 of Australian doctors in New South Wales are on strike this week from Tuesday to Thursday. The doctors’ union, also known as the Australian Salaried Medical Officer’s Federation (Asmof) is calling for better wages and working conditions.

Andrew Holland, the executive director of the NSW branch of Asmof, says the government’s failure to address the workload has left members working excessive hours.

What Action Is Asmof Taking?

In response to government criticism, Ian Lisser, Asmof NSW’s manager of industrial services has responded. Lisser claims Asmof organisers met to determine what actions they can take that won’t compromise safety.

Not all of Australian doctors are walking off the job, however. The largest number of staff taking part in the strike are in Sydney metropolitan hospitals.

Cancer Treatments and Surgeries Cancelled

This current walk-out is the biggest strike since 1984. Thousands of Australian doctors are participating in rallies outside hospitals. So far, 370 elective surgeries have been cancelled and hundreds of outpatient clinic appointments have been postponed.

According to a report from 9News, NSW Premier and Health Minister made an eleventh-hour bid to stop the strike, but failed.

Minister for Health Ryan Park said, “What I can’t do, is resolve 12 years of wage suppression in a single year.”

How Australian Doctors Strike Will Affect Services

As Australian doctors continue the strike through Thursday, many citizens are left to wonder about the status on many hospital services. Asmof councillor Dr Tom Morrison said emergency and intensive care numbers will remain the same.

According to 9News, NSW Health’s up-to-date emergency department data showed performance over the 90% benchmark, though Daly noted that this could deteriorate across the strike.

Furthermore, the Australia doctors’ strike is less likely to affect regional hospitals, since many of the are not members of Asmof.