AMA VICDOC Spring 2023 - Magazine - Page 27
But we know when we talk to doctors it
doesn’t work that way, that often doctors are
starting early to prepare for ward rounds, or
staying back doing discharge summaries, or
complete a handover, or they’re waiting for
their registrar to return from theatre so they
can speak to the registrar about a patient.
There’s so much in their working day that’s
not expressly directed but the work is still
expected to be done.
We argued that these duties were
necessary and often performed in overtime
with the expectation or knowledge of
their supervisor. It was on that basis that
Dr Bolton was able to persuade the court
that her duties were not just sometimes
expressly authorised but were also
authorized in other ways, for example
when her duties were deemed necessary
and carried out with the expectation or
with the knowledge of her supervisor.
KATE You act for junior doctors in NSW
and ACT. Are the same issues in question?
HAYDEN There are different employment
regimes in each state and Territory but
the ‘gateways’ for a doctor’s entitlement
for payment for overtime are similar in
these other cases. What is striking is the
near identical way health authorities are
defending these actions in each jurisdiction.
They’ve run the argument, “You know
what, doctors aren’t needed to stay back,
they’re just there of their own volition” or
“they need not stay back, they could just
hand over their discharge summaries to the
incoming shift”. Health authorities have also
argued that because doctors failed to make a
claim for overtime at the time, they should
now be prevented from receiving payment.
KATE
It all sounds so unrealistic. It’s so
disrespectful. It’s as if we volunteer to stay
back late, because hey, who would want to
go home after a 10 hour shift!
KATE But on a small positive note I’ve
been chatting to some doctors and since
these class actions have started, it seems
like the hospitals are listening, and there’s
some health services that have said,
“Look, if you just claim it, we’ll authorise
it. You don’t need to jump through 1,000
hoops to get there”. There’s no way those
changes would’ve occurred unless these
court proceedings had taken place.
HAYDEN Some doctors I’ve spoken to
also say that they’re seeing green shoots
of change emerge within individual
departments, with some senior doctors
leading the charge. They’re seeing the
action taken by junior doctors and are
now encouraging more junior doctors
to make claims for their unrostered
overtime. We’re also seeing improvement
around rostering.
There’s still a lot of work to do, a long
way to go, but we feel that these changes
are really encouraging and will continue,
but only if doctors continue to voice
their concerns.
KATE Who is part of the class actions
in Victoria?
HAYDEN Doctors who worked at specific
health services in which we have issued
proceedings are automatically group
members, if they’ve worked unpaid
unrostered overtime.
KATE If you are a doctor who has worked
unpaid overtime, what can you do to help?
HAYDEN Most importantly, you should
register your interest. Registration is
important because it allows us to seek
information from doctors about the
nature of duties they’ve performed,
and the circumstances in which
they’ve done that work.
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