SENIOR doctors at Calvary Public Hospital are shocked, dismayed and angry at the ACT government’s plans to forcibly acquire the hospital. 

“There’s a general feeling that senior medical staff have been disrespected in this whole process so far,” said Prof Walter Abhayaratna, AMA ACT President. 

He said that while the government had been concentrating on the bricks and mortar, the senior doctors felt excluded from a process that should have included them.

The overwhelming message from a meeting of the medicos was that senior doctors and other staff had been ignored by the ACT government and given no opportunity for consultation or to warn against the mistakes the government was making. 

“Many of the senior doctors who met with us have provided long and, in some cases, multi-decade service to Calvary and the residents of Canberra,” Prof Abhayaratna said. 

“They deserve to be respected but instead they were expressing their shock, dismay, and anger at the ACT government’s move,’ 

“One thing was clear at the meeting – the senior doctors were angry at being disrespected and wanted to tell the ACT government that they have set a terrible precedent. 

“But what is also clear is the need for CPHB to continue to provide services to their consumers, despite all that has gone on. 

“AMA ACT and the Calvary doctors know only too well the demands that are being made on our healthcare system at the present time and how stretched things are. 

“We call on the ACT government to mend fences with the senior doctors at Calvary and as part of that we have written to the Health Minister, Rachel Stephen-Smith. Our letter calls on the government to treat clinicians respectfully, undertake careful and extensive consultation and provide certainty and stability to the senior medical staff.” 

Hospital takeover raises an enormous red flag

Let’s have a red-hot-go at stuffing up Calvary, too