Junior doctors across NSW are being denied critical study leave and forced to take accrued days off (ADOs), leaving them exhausted, underprepared and increasingly desperate as they try to sit gruelling mandatory exams.
ADOs are accrued by doctors for working longer rostered work hours, without pay at the time. These hours accrue as ADOs to be taken by doctors at a later date.
ASMOF - The Doctors Union says the practice is widespread across NSW Health but is particularly acute at Liverpool Hospital, where junior medical officers (JMOs) report being told they cannot access study leave because they have accrued too many ADOs.
Dr Issac Wade, ASMOF Councillor and a doctor in training at Lismore Hospital, said access to proper study leave was absolutely vital for critical professional development.
"Junior doctors aren't using study leave for extra-curricular interests or a free holiday. We use it to attend educational courses, workshops, and conferences, and complete exams that directly lead to better, more evidence-informed care for our patients.
"Attempts to push doctors to use alternative leave, such as ADOs or annual leave, directly cheat them out of entitlements that they have a right to in the award.
"That study leave then expires, leaving doctors with even fewer opportunities for professional upskilling and development.
"We're calling on NSW Health to honour our contracts, and give us the chance to further our learning and provide the best, most up-to-date care possible for our patients."
ASMOF NSW President Dr Nicholas Spooner said the move shows clear disregard for an overstretched workforce.
"Junior doctors are already working excessive hours under enormous pressure, in some cases 14-hour shifts, back to back for seven days, and now they are being told they cannot take the leave they need to study and progress their careers.
"This is not just bureaucratic mismanagement, it is fundamentally disrespectful to the doctors holding our health system together.
"We are in the middle of a serious workforce crisis. Doctors are fatigued, understaffed and under pressure.
"Instead of addressing that, NSW Health is now actively making it harder for junior doctors to complete their training. With a crippling doctor shortage in NSW, this is ridiculously short-sighted and dangerous.
"If we undermine the training pipeline, we undermine the future of the entire health system."
ASMOF is calling on NSW Health to reinstate study leave, stop substituting ADOs, and provide consistent guidance across Local Health Districts.
