MEDIA ALERT – WAGGA WAGGA
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WHAT |
ASMOF member doctors will hold a rally outside Wagga Wagga Base Hospital to protest against understaffing, unsafe working hours and doctor burnout, which are all putting patient care at risk. |
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WHO |
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WHEN |
10:00 am Thursday, 10 April, 2025 |
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WHERE |
Wagga Wagga Base Hospital Wagga Wagga, NSW |
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CONTACT |
On the ground contact for the Wagga Wagga Rally for media:
Media contacts:
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MEDIA RELEASE
Final day of strike: NSW doctors unite across regions to demand urgent reform
Media statement: Thursday, 10 April 2025
Thousands of frustrated public hospital doctors across NSW are staging a third day of industrial action, intensifying their demands for urgent government intervention to address critical understaffing and unsafe working conditions.
On the final day of a historic three-day strike, thousands of public hospital doctors across NSW, including in regional communities like Wollongong and Wagga Wagga, are standing united in their call for urgent action to fix a broken public health system, after successful rallies in Orange, Dubbo and the Hunter Valley yesterday.
Doctors have spent the past three days reducing services to public holiday levels to protest chronic understaffing, unsafe working hours and widespread doctor burnout that is forcing skilled clinicians out of the public system and putting patients at risk.
ASMOF President Dr Nicholas Spooner said today’s coordinated actions in regional centres and Sydney reflect the depth and scale of the crisis across the entire state.
“This is not just a Sydney problem, doctors in Dubbo and Orange, from Wollongong to Lismore, are standing up together to say the system is no longer safe.
“We are working dangerously long shifts, sometimes 16 hours back-to-back, with little rest and no relief in sight. Doctors are burning out and walking away, and the Government continues to offer no real solutions.”
Doctors are calling for:
- Safe working hours, including a guaranteed 10-hour break between shifts
- Proper staffing to relieve burnout and retain skilled clinicians
- Urgent action on chronic workforce shortages
- A wage offer that attracts and retains clinicians in NSW
This week’s action follows the launch of ASMOF’s statewide campaign – Can’t see a doctor? Ask the Premier, which has mobilised doctors at more than 30 hospitals and drawn strong support from the public.
Despite the disruption to non-urgent services, emergency departments and critical care units have remained safely staffed throughout the strike. The arrangements mirror public holiday operations already used across NSW Health.
“Doctors don’t want to be on strike. We want to be at work, caring for our patients – but we cannot keep doing it under these unsafe conditions,” Dr Spooner said.
“Premier Minns still has time to fix this. He needs to come back to the table with a serious plan to support the doctors who hold this system together.”
“Doctors have sent a clear message. Now it’s time for the Government to listen.”
ASMOF CAMPAIGN VIDEO, SOCIAL MEDIA TILES AND PHOTOS CAN BE FOUND HERE
Permission is granted for media use.
Media contact: Darren Rodrigo – 0414 783 405, Lilia Bednarek – 0449 521 201
Key Facts:
Doctors are calling for:
- Safe working hours, including a guaranteed 10-hour break between shifts
- Proper staffing to relieve burnout and retain skilled clinicians
- Urgent action on chronic workforce shortages
- A wage offer that attracts and retains clinicians in NSW
Contact details:
On the ground contact for the Wagga Wagga Rally for media:
- Dr Sean Gooding 0414 712 901
Media contacts:
- Darren Rodrigo – 0414 783 405
Lilia Bednarek – 0449 521 201