ACT Health Minister Simon Corbell has agreed to meet with senior doctors taking strike action at the Canberra Hospital, calling on ACT Health to guarantee their current pay and conditions.
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More than 30 senior doctors began indefinite strike action on Monday, the same day as the Fair Work Commission deputy president John Kovacic reserved his decision on enterprise bargaining negotiations. The group has asked ACT Health to allow junior practitioners to agree to their own enterprise agreement and for negotiations to continue for senior doctors.
A spokesman for Mr Corbell confirmed a meeting would take place with a representative of the group, about 10 per cent of the senior medical workforce, on April 10.
More doctors oppose the enterprise agreement.
The ongoing strike action won't compromise patient care. As part of the action, senior doctors will stop completing non-essential paper work, not attend some meetings, stop bedside clinical teaching junior doctors and withdraw some services.
Doctors involved in the strike include intensive care and emergency department doctors, anaesthetists and retrieval specialists. They again called for a meeting with Mr Corbell last week.
Spokeswoman and Canberra Hospital acting director of the intensive care Bronwyn Avard welcomed Mr Corbell's willingness to meet with representatives of the group.
"Obviously we would have preferred to have avoided industrial action altogether, and not to have to take our case to the Fair Work Commission, but we are very pleased that the Minister has agreed to meet with us and listen to our concerns," Dr Avard said in a statement.
"We look forward to discussing with him the impact of significant changes to the terms and conditions of senior doctors in the new enterprise agreement proposed by ACT Health, and the wider effects of that on the public health system in the ACT."
Another 10 senior doctors from Calvary Hospital have also appointed a bargaining representative and joined an application to the Fair Work Commission.
Junior doctors were told this week that ACT Health's proposed agreement could threaten the ACT's ability to attract and retain high calibre senior medical practitioners.
The representatives of senior doctors urged their more junior colleagues to vote against the proposed agreement if it covers all of the workforce.
Last week Mr Corbell said there was no evidence that senior medical practitioners had been disadvantaged by the proposed agreement and the government would seek a single agreement to cover all medical practitioners employed in the ACT Public Service.
