A FAIR GO: PORTABILITY & RETENTION OF ENTITLEMENTS FOR DOCTORS | AMA (WA)
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AMA WA ACTION AGENDA

Culture & Safety

A FAIR GO: PORTABILITY & RETENTION OF ENTITLEMENTS FOR DOCTORS

WHAT WE WANT

  • WA Health to comply with the law and recognise entitlements and service transfer for doctors in training (DiTs) who transition to senior doctor positions, where there is no break in service. All previous breaches redressed by WA Health employers.
  • Implement a system where WA Health doctors are able to retain accrued entitlements when they break service with WA Health due to the inherent nature of medical training and practice (e.g. interstate or overseas training opportunities).

WHY WE WANT IT

WA Health employers breach the AMA (WA) Agreement and legal provisions by failing to recognise accrued entitlements when DiTs transition to senior doctor classifications. No other WA public sector worker loses their accrued entitlements upon promotion.
Restricted access to leave is a systemic issue for DiTs and is recognised as strongly influencing employee health, wellbeing and burnout. WA Health wrongly pays out leave entitlements despite continuous employment, to make opportunistic savings at the expense of the DiT workforce.

  • Some WA Health employers try to use different types of employment contracts, to circumvent their legal obligations to recognise previously accrued leave entitlements.
  • Due to the nature of medical training, DiTs are required to gain experience interstate or overseas, resulting in a forced break in service from WA Health.
  • A number of public hospitals and health services have been privatised, and by government decision, are operated by private providers, resulting in a forced break in service from WA Health.
  • Most DiTs are employed on 12-month fixed-term contracts, increasing the incidence of breaks in service.
  • 98 per cent of DiTs think portability and retention of leave would improve morale; 99 per cent believe it would improve training and experience.*

WHEN IT’S DONE

Legally compliant WA Health employers that recognise the importance of access to leave and reward commitment to the public sector.
WA’s home-grown doctors return to WA public hospitals after pursuing upskilling and specialisation opportunities, benefiting WA patients.

*Source: AMA (WA)- WA Health EBA Negotiations (DiTs, 2020).
BACK TO ACTION AGENDA

AMA (WA) ACTION AGENDA

612 more public hospital beds Health budget increase of 5-6% p.a. for 4 years Save WA’s emergency departments from collapse
Amend Health Services Act to better support doctors A Fair Go: Job Security For Senior Doctors A Fair Go: Portability & Retention Of Entitlements For Doctors Legal privilege for healthcare workers during investigations
State-wide electronic medical record Enhanced services and clinical governance at new women and babies hospital Improved telehealth services and capacity
GP Primary Care Taskforce Independent review of WA Health Corporate Governance Decision-making transparency
Interim quarantine facility Best-practice workplace safety & improved processes to prevent COVID breaches Commonwealth quarantine facility