THE Australian Medical Association has condemned the Brumby Government for failing to negotiate a new enterprise bargaining agreement with public hospital doctors.
The former EBA expired on June 30, and AMA Victoria vice-president and Bendigo resident Stephen Parnis said doctors were becoming more frustrated each day their pleas for a new agreement went ignored.
"From the AMA and doctors’ perspective it’s really frustrating and it makes us wonder how serious the government is about negotiating a sensible deal for public hospital doctors," Mr Parnis said.
"It makes us wonder whether it really values our commitment and our work in the public hospital system.
"It’s making a bad situation worse."
Mr Parnis said the government had all but disregarded an independent review commissioned more than two years ago as part of the last EBA negotiation with public hospital doctors.
Mr Parnis, an emergency physician, said the review had acknowledged that morale was "approaching rock bottom" and doctors were finding it harder to properly treat patients.
"That review was exhaustive... and it advocated 71 solutions.
"And the government has basically said here’s $2 million - which probably wouldn’t even account for petty cash in the Department of Human Services.
"It’s said to hospital boards 'You try to implement seven of these', so the other 64 solutions haven’t even been considered.
"We’ve got poor morale, a government that’s paying lip service to its own review; we’ve got patients sitting in corridors, and emergency waiting times that keep on blowing out.
"I was at work until late last night, and I can tell you it’s getting harder and harder to look after the people as we want to.
"We don’t want to negotiate in the media, we want to negotiate confidentially.
"We want to negotiate promptly... because we want to look after the patients and we want the government to help us do it."
A spokesman for state Health Minister Daniel Andrews said formal talks with the AMA had started.
"We’ve met on numerous occasions and discussions are amicable and continuing."
He hoped a solution would be reached sooner rather than later.
Central Victoria General Practice Network chief executive Kirk Warren was unavailable for comment.