Doctors in training across WA Health have received thousands of dollars in telemedicine recall back pay.
The AMAWA said its industrial relations team had discovered that DiTs providing telemedicine advice had only been receiving the standard on call allowance of $12.22.
But under the WA Health System – Medical Practitioners – AMA Industrial Agreement 2024, practitioners are entitled to a recall payment at their base hourly rate for recalls that do not require attendance at the workplace.
This clause covers situations where a practitioner is on call for telemedicine services across multiple metropolitan hospitals, WA Country Health Service hospitals, and is also on-call for physical recall, AMAWA said.
It said despite meeting the requirements outlined in the agreement, the practitioners were being denied the recall payments they were entitled to.
AMAWA President Dr Michael Page said the pay win highlighted the need for the industrial relations system to recognise that “work is work”.
“Time spent on the phone making medical decisions which are often, by the very nature of on call work, potentially critical to a patient’s outcome, needs to be valued just as time at the bedside is,” he said.
“Medical expertise does not come for free. It’s also time that our members are not available for their families, friends, recreation and much-needed downtime.
“It’s important that there be a signal to the employing hospital to acknowledge this.
“The AMAWA negotiates industrial agreements on behalf of the state’s doctors and consults extensively with our members and other doctors to ensure that we understand their needs in the workplace.”
The discovery of the missing payments follows the AMA arguing for back pay for a doctor who worked a short shift on a public holiday but was incorrectly paid.
RELATED: Doctors advised to check their pay
The AMA argued that the doctor in training should have been paid for their observed public holiday hours despite working a rostered shorter shift that day.
Advice from HSS insisted only worked hours are paid at penalty rates and no observed hours were required to be paid for the remainder of the day.
But the AMA successfully disputed this position, arguing it went against the WA Health Industrial Agreement.
As a result, the doctor was paid the remaining 4.5 hours they were owed, including adjustments to overtime periods for that pay period.
The AMA said it encouraged doctors to be vigilant about their pay and entitlements under the industrial agreement.
RELATED: Doctors in WA receive a 4.75% pay rise
Under the new three-year pay deal that came into effect last December, all staff employed under the agreement received a 4.75% pay increase back paid from 3 September 2024.
Staff will then receive a pay increase of 3.75% in September 2025 and 3% in September 2026.
Other allowances to boost recruitment and retention were also agreed, including a $4,000 support payment for doctors in training to assist with training expenses and a commitment to review on call and recall payments within the next two years.