Hundreds of psychiatrists in NSW set to quit amid pay dispute with government

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The doctors' union says more than 200 psychiatrists plan to resign on January 21, unless a pay dispute with the state government is resolved. They are demanding a pay increase of 25 per cent, but the New South Wales government says an offer of 10.5 per cent over the next three years is on the table.

Transcript

00:00There's been this 15-month stalemate with the NSW Government over pay, with 200 or more

00:07than 200 psychiatrists handing in their resignation letters to their union, signalling that they'll

00:13be leaving their positions come next week.

00:16So obviously time is ticking.

00:17As you mentioned, the NSW Government is offering a 10.5% pay increase over three years.

00:25Psychiatrists are calling for a 25% pay increase.

00:29They say in some instances it'll bring them in line with some of their interstate counterparts

00:33who are being paid up to 30% more than they are.

00:37And also that it'll do wonders to help, I guess, recruit and retain some of the staff

00:43that they've been losing over the last few years.

00:45They're saying this is not an issue that has popped out of nowhere.

00:48We also heard from some who were talking about the impact that this will have on the entire

00:52health system.

00:53Take a listen to what they said a little earlier.

00:56The time to come to the table is now.

00:58We've been at the table.

01:01Nothing I've heard coming out of the Ministry of Health or the negotiations process has

01:08done anything to address things.

01:10It's only getting worse.

01:12Our psychiatrists have left because they've tried.

01:15They did everything they could.

01:16They worked harder.

01:17They ran a marathon.

01:18They got to the end of that marathon and then have been asked to run another marathon.

01:24It's for the patients they said there was a problem.

01:29And now we're told, think of the patients.

01:31We have been thinking of the patients.

01:35We've been thinking the whole time and we're worried about what's going to happen.

01:39We're on the brink of a collapse here.

01:40This isn't a crisis anymore.

01:42There has been a panicked response all over.

01:44The New South Wales government has been pleading with psychiatrists not to go through with

01:48this.

01:49They say that they want to work with them to come to some sort of solution.

01:53The Minister for Mental Health, Rose Jackson, has been saying that this is the largest pay

01:57increase for psychiatry staff specialists in more than a decade.

02:01But psychiatrists are saying that this is not enough.

02:03They're saying that if they lose this 200 or more than 200 psychiatrists that it'll

02:09be a non-functional system.

02:11Obviously, they say it's a decision that they haven't taken lightly.

02:14And in terms of the response from people who need these services, they say that it's absolutely

02:21necessary.

02:23We need to talk about how difficult it has been to not only find a psychiatrist in the

02:26public system but also the private system.

02:28It's already a strained system as it is and I guess there's a lot of panic about what's

02:33to come.

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