“I did it and so will you.” These few words shaped my experience as a junior doctor. My superiors expected me to work long hours, often to a point of total exhaustion. They told me it was part and parcel of the job.
Before I became a junior doctor, I knew the job would require long hours. The work would be unpredictable. There would be emergencies, anxious family members to reassure and complex diagnoses to be made. There would be paperwork. Endless but necessary tasks. I understood all of this.
What I did not expect was that these long hours would not be paid. My employer knew the hours my colleagues and I were working, but when it came to actual payment, little of it registered.
As a junior doctor at Westmead hospital in western Sydney, I dedicated myself to providing the best possible care for my patients. I would go above and beyond the call of duty. I was proud of my contribution and especially the work of my colleagues, who in some instances did far longer hours (and more unpaid overtime) than I did.
The public hospital system relies on junior doctors’ goodwill and commitment to patient care. It is our dedication that sows the soil for exploitation; we will do the hours patients require, regardless of fair compensation. This affects our physical and mental wellbeing and is the reason I chose to leave the public hospital system.
Routinely working unpaid hours on top of our ordinary workloads is exhausting and demoralising. We sacrifice precious time with family and friends.
Fatigue also affects our ability to care for patients. According to an annual survey conducted by the Australian Medical Association, more than half of junior doctors fear making a clinical error due to fatigue.
Three years after starting as a junior doctor at Westmead hospital, I moved to Melbourne. I started a family and now work as a GP registrar in Melbourne’s west.
In 2020 I chose to become the lead plaintiff in a class action against NSW Health on behalf of more than 20,000 junior doctors who seek payment of the many hours of overtime they worked. For me, it has never been about the money but about creating a circuit breaker. I wanted to call NSW Health to account for their failure to properly acknowledge our unpaid work and to recognise that this failure was widespread and systemic.
I also wanted NSW Health to listen; to understand the obstacles staff face in speaking up for their rights. Most of all, I wanted NSW Health to see that for it to change its workplace, it would take more than words.
Last week, we reached a settlement of the class action without an admission of liability by NSW Health. If approved by the court, NSW Health will pay almost $230m to junior doctors to settle their claim over the overtime they worked. It’s the largest settlement of an underpayments case in Australian legal history.
Without the class action system, my colleagues and I could not have achieved this outcome. A single voice acting alone can struggle to be heard. As a group with a common goal, we were able to band together to address what has been a longstanding issue in the NSW public hospital system.
I know funds are scarce in a post-Covid world, especially in healthcare. I also appreciate that governments must balance many competing priorities. It’s a challenge, I understand that. But my message is simple – our hospitals are only as good as the doctors, nurses, and staff who work in them. We must look after them. And to my fellow junior doctors seeking recognition of your work in class actions around the country, keep fighting.
• Dr Amireh Fakhouri works as a GP registrar in Melbourne’s west
