The doctors' union says more than 200 psychiatrists plan to resign on January 21, unless a pay dispute with the state government is resolved. They are demanding a pay increase of 25 per cent, but the New South Wales government says an offer of 10.5 per cent over the next three years is on the table.
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00:00There's been this 15-month stalemate with the NSW Government over pay, with 200 or more
00:07than 200 psychiatrists handing in their resignation letters to their union, signalling that they'll
00:13be leaving their positions come next week.
00:16So obviously time is ticking.
00:17As you mentioned, the NSW Government is offering a 10.5% pay increase over three years.
00:25Psychiatrists are calling for a 25% pay increase.
00:29They say in some instances it'll bring them in line with some of their interstate counterparts
00:33who are being paid up to 30% more than they are.
00:37And also that it'll do wonders to help, I guess, recruit and retain some of the staff
00:43that they've been losing over the last few years.
00:45They're saying this is not an issue that has popped out of nowhere.
00:48We also heard from some who were talking about the impact that this will have on the entire
00:52health system.
00:53Take a listen to what they said a little earlier.
00:56The time to come to the table is now.
00:58We've been at the table.
01:01Nothing I've heard coming out of the Ministry of Health or the negotiations process has
01:08done anything to address things.
01:10It's only getting worse.
01:12Our psychiatrists have left because they've tried.
01:15They did everything they could.
01:16They worked harder.
01:17They ran a marathon.
01:18They got to the end of that marathon and then have been asked to run another marathon.
01:24It's for the patients they said there was a problem.
01:29And now we're told, think of the patients.
01:31We have been thinking of the patients.
01:35We've been thinking the whole time and we're worried about what's going to happen.
01:39We're on the brink of a collapse here.
01:40This isn't a crisis anymore.
01:42There has been a panicked response all over.
01:44The New South Wales government has been pleading with psychiatrists not to go through with
01:48this.
01:49They say that they want to work with them to come to some sort of solution.
01:53The Minister for Mental Health, Rose Jackson, has been saying that this is the largest pay
01:57increase for psychiatry staff specialists in more than a decade.
02:01But psychiatrists are saying that this is not enough.
02:03They're saying that if they lose this 200 or more than 200 psychiatrists that it'll
02:09be a non-functional system.
02:11Obviously, they say it's a decision that they haven't taken lightly.
02:14And in terms of the response from people who need these services, they say that it's absolutely
02:21necessary.
02:23We need to talk about how difficult it has been to not only find a psychiatrist in the
02:26public system but also the private system.
02:28It's already a strained system as it is and I guess there's a lot of panic about what's
02:33to come.