Senior specialists at Calvary Hospital's emergency department and intensive care units will refuse to bill private patients, teach junior staff, meet with management and complete administration as pay negotiations with ACT Health stall.
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About 30 doctors, including anaesthetists and intensive-care specialists, at Canberra Hospital began industrial action in late March and the Fair Work Commission has given about 20 of their Calvary colleagues authorisation to follow suit.
Lawyer with Clayton Utz, the firm representing the doctors during the bargaining process, Nathan Moy said the concerns of doctors at both hospitals were still ongoing as they were yet to get a response from Health Minister Simon Corbell or ACT Health.
"It became apparent that ACT Health had no interest in listening to the concerns raised by the doctors about the proposed terms of the enterprise agreement and changes to special employment arrangements," he said.
"Of particular concern to the senior specialists is the lack of security about their pay going forward.
"The industrial action is not a decision they've taken lightly ... it's something quite serious."
The pay dispute hinges on the doctors' "special employment arrangements" covering retention bonuses and payments for out-of-hours work.
A specialist's base salary is capped at $199,000 a year – far below the market rate for top medical consultants, under the existing wage agreement.
"What the doctors are ultimately looking for is security that their special employment arrangements, which for some make up half of their pay, will remain and that any review will be undertaken in a transparent manner – something which both ACT Health and the minister have refused to engage with to date," Mr Moy said.
Mr Corbell said regular reviews of the special employment arrangements would continue.
"No SEA will be terminated simply because a new enterprise agreement comes into force," he said.
"The Director-General of ACT Health has written to all medical practitioners to advise them that arrangements for reviews have been put in place, and that these will be conducted in accordance with the agreed provisions in the enterprise agreement."
The time for the Canberra Hospital doctors to take authorised action has now run out, but Mr Moy said discussions were continuing with ACT Health as part of the bargaining process.
The Calvary doctors now intend to give notice of industrial action.
Mr Corbell said the "limited" industrial action at Canberra Hospital had no impact on patient care or ongoing operations.
A meeting between Mr Corbell, the doctors and their lawyer Jennifer Wyborn in mid-April failed to reach a resolution.
"Ideally the whole point is to get ACT Health to listen," Mr Moy said.
"The senior specialists represented by Ms Wyborn have dedicated their lives to the Canberra community and take their obligations to their patients seriously."
Contract negotiations for visiting medical officers working at both hospitals will begin in August, but Australian Medical Association ACT president Dr Liz Gallagher said the routine review of the enterprise agreement would not be impacted by the standoff between ACT Health and the group of staff specialists.
Dr Gallagher said the VMOs were in the process of appointing an arbitrator should any controversies arise like the last enterprise agreement three years ago.
"It's mainly around pay and some terms and conditions, if we can't get agreement between the VMOA [Visiting Medical Officers Association], the AMA and ACT Health then sometimes we need to go to an arbitrator," she said.
"We're just dealing with our standard contract and reviewing all the conditions and pay levels."
