Page 4529 - Week 12 - Thursday, 26 October 2017
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Ms Fitzharris: The answer to the member’s question is as follows:
1. As per the ACT Public Sector Medical Practitioners Enterprise Agreement 2013-2017 Para 18.2 ordinary weekly hours for salaried doctors are 38 hours per week. Dependent upon the unit where the doctor is working, shifts can vary between four and14 hours per day.
2. At Canberra Hospital during 2016-17:
(a) The average number of un-rostered hours for salaried junior doctors (interns, residents, registrars) was 3.8 hours per week. Salaried senior doctors (Staff Specialist or Senior Staff Specialist) receive an on-call allowance and are not paid for overtime, so un-rostered hours are not recorded for this cohort.
(b) Zero.
(c) This is dependent upon the area where the doctor is working, but generally doctors work five shifts per week.
3. As per the ACT Public Sector Medical Practitioners Enterprise Agreement 2013-2017 Para 20.3 doctors are to have a minimum nine hour break between shifts and they are not to exceed 112 hours of work per fortnight.
4. The reasons are varied but generally related to the need to ensure patient safety by attending to critically ill or injured patients prior to ending the shift, extended operating theatre lists, and short staffing due to unexpected illness or absences.
5. In order to ensure that all doctors:
(a) do not suffer fatigue while on duty; or
(b) do not make clinical mistakes in the treatment of patients
The Canberra Hospital medical roster team carefully scrutinises all junior doctor medical rosters and enforces safe working hours within clinical units, to ensure that all junior doctors maintain safe working hours.
Senior doctors (Staff Specialists and Senior Staff Specialists) are rostered by their respective Clinical Units. The ACT Public Sector Medical Practitioners Enterprise Agreement 2013-2017 covers all medical officers employed by ACT Health which, as outlined above, ensures that doctors have sufficient breaks between shifts and do not exceed safe levels of work per fortnight.
ACT Health is committed to taking a risk-management approach to fatigue management and has a Fatigue Management policy.
City Renewal Authority—administrative responsibility
(Question No 531)
Mr Coe asked the Chief Minister, upon notice, on 25 August 2017:
Can the Chief Minister advise why the City Renewal Authority is included in the Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate instead of Chief
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