Doctors' union accuses NSW Health of using policies to gag them

Doctors are accusing the New South Wales health authority of using policies to gag them and discouraging them from talking to the media.

Transcript

00:00Well, gagged and silenced is how the New South Wales Doctors' Union are describing

00:07proposed changes to New South Wales' health social media policy.

00:12Now the Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation, which is effectively New South

00:17Wales' union for doctors, have serious concerns about a number of proposed changes to New

00:23South Wales' health social media policy that they say may make it difficult for doctors

00:29to express any concerns they have not only about the New South Wales public health system

00:34but indeed New South Wales' health policy more broadly.

00:38Now as part of these proposed changes, they're split into really what can best be described

00:44as a number of factors.

00:45Now there's obviously the conditions set for doctors and more broadly all health workers

00:50across the New South Wales public system when it comes to social media presences in an official

00:57capacity.

00:57Now part of those conditions that currently stand are that doctors and health workers

01:03more broadly cannot speak to the media in an official capacity without the authorisation

01:09of a more senior member of the media team here in New South Wales health.

01:14But the real sticking point, particularly for the New South Wales Doctors' Union, is that

01:18personal social media use.

01:21Now one of the conditions that has now been set forth in this proposed draft for this social

01:27media policy, which is of course important to mention that the ink is yet to dry on this

01:32proposal.

01:33But what doctors are most concerned about is that the state are essentially saying that

01:39any social media presence in a private capacity that may adversely affect public trust in their

01:47employing agency, which essentially is New South Wales health is one of the best ways to put it,

01:52would potentially be in breach of this new social media policy.

01:57So what doctors are really concerned about here is that it may curtail their ability to speak out

02:04publicly in a private setting on their own social media about any concerns that they have within

02:11their workplace.

02:11Now this all comes after New South Wales public doctors held three days of industrial action in

02:19April of this year, describing in their words as some of the worst pay and conditions for public

02:25health doctors across all of Australia.

02:28Now New South Wales health have responded to the concerns by the doctors union.

02:33They say that their position is that any concerns that New South Wales doctors have with the current

02:39state of New South Wales health policy or indeed the conditions of the hospitals that they work in

02:44should be dealt with through official channels. And at the same time, they say that, as I was saying a

02:51little bit earlier, the ink is yet to dry. And indeed, this is still a draft proposal.