With ALEX MITCHELL AND FARID FARID FOR AAP
Doctors from Orange and Dubbo have joined their colleagues in rare strike action.
Doctors from dozens of NSW hospitals went on strike for the first time in 27 years last Tuesday, 8 April, demanding a 30 per cent salary increase and guaranteed breaks.
Health Minister Ryan Park tried to have the rare three-day strike called off on Monday night by offering a week-long intensive negotiation focused on boosting junior doctors' pay.
But that was knocked back by their union when the government wouldn't put a specific figure on a wage increase.
The union says NSW juniors are the worst paid in the country, earning up to 40 per cent less than their interstate counterparts.
One of the 3500 doctors from more than 30 hospitals who walked off the job on Tuesday told Australian Associated Press conditions were putting patients at risk.
Henry Crayton said he worked 135 hours in the past fortnight with just one day off, covering 150 patients per shift.
"That is a completely normal fortnight for me, and I'm over it," he told AAP.
Doctors also want a guaranteed 10-hour break between shifts, to stem the exodus of colleagues to other states.
"They're no longer able to tolerate conditions that essentially put our patients and even ourselves at risk through a lack of staffing and poor working conditions," Westmead senior medical officer Mark Priestley said while picketing his hospital.
"We're here because we want to be there for our patients."
Mr Park agrees junior doctors need a significant pay bump but says the 30 per cent request isn't affordable.
"We understand junior doctors need to be paid more and ... we will remain at the table and work through this as quickly and as effectively as we can," he said.
His negotiation offer was the first sign the government was prepared to improve its proposal of 10.5 per cent over three years for all doctors.
"We want to pay them more (but) we can't do everything they want in a single year, given we've had wage suppression in this state for over a decade," Mr Park said.
The previous coalition government capped public sector wage rises at 2.5 per cent per year from 2011 to 2022, adding exceptions for productivity gains in later years.
Opposition Leader Mark Speakman, who has long backed the wages cap, agreed the junior doctors deserved a "significant" pay rise.
"The job of public hospitals is to keep patients well and safe," he said.
"We've got to make sure that our professionals have appropriate support to do that."
Hospitals are being staffed at public holiday levels throughout the strike, with only procedures deemed "non-urgent" postponed.
That included at least 370 surgeries, 3000 outpatient appointments and 480 chemotherapy treatments for cancer patients, NSW Health said.
ASMOF President Dr Nicholas Spooner described the action as "just the beginning".
“Thousands of doctors are standing together and saying the health system is not safe, and it must be fixed," he said.
Over three days, at 12 rallies in hospitals across the state, from Wollongong to Wagga Wagga, from Dubbo to Westmead, doctors turned out in force to demand change.
Throughout the strike, emergency departments and critical care services remained safely staffed.
“Throughout the strike, we carefully maintained patient safety, just as we committed to from the outset," Dr Spooner said.
“Services operated under the same staffing model used on public holidays, ensuring urgent care remained available.
“Our actions are guided by our members' deep commitment to our patients and the public health system.”
Dr Spooner said the campaign would now enter its next phase, with continued consultation among members to determine next steps.
“We want to thank the public - and especially our patients - for their support, understanding and solidarity," he said.