Exhausted doctors may be close to their first “meaningful” offer for improved pay and conditions after ditching their scrubs and walking off the job.
Thousands of doctors across Victoria united in solidarity on Thursday, many braving the rain and gathering on the steps of Melbourne's Parliament House calling for improvements to their working conditions.
Union members have been locked in fractured negotiations with the state government for more than a year.
A deal is yet to be reached, despite Health Minister Ingrid Stitt remaining hopeful a resolution is not far off.
"My message to doctors is we are listening and absolutely committed to continuing discussions with your union to make sure that we come to a settlement," she said.
The government met with union representatives on Thursday, with hopes of the "first meaningful offer that we can take to our members", AMA Victoria president Simon Judkins said.
Chants of “shame” could be heard as the lack of a pay deal was raised.
Signs reading “Keep our mum safe” and “Tired doctors = patients suffer” could be seen among the crowd.
Conditions outside were difficult, with rain pouring down, but it was clear that what the doctors faced inside hospitals was even tougher.
“This won’t be the last strike. Be ready,” one union speaker said.
Zak Doherty, who works at a major metropolitan hospital, told AAP conditions needed to improve immediately.
"Instead of having to do 14 hours straight shifts, we want to do 12 and a half hours," he said.
He has been working as a doctor for six years and is often on call for multiple nights in a row, during which he gets only two or three hours of sleep each night.
"I'm expected to care for patients Monday morning. It's unfair for that patient that looks at me in the clinic room, and they can tell I'm exhausted," he said.
"We know how to manage fatigue, we know how to call on our colleagues to help us when we need, but we shouldn't have to do that."
Emergency departments were exempt from the strike on Thursday and emergency surgeries also went ahead, with hospitals staffed above Saturday levels.
Alongside increased pay, doctors are demanding at least three guaranteed days off every fortnight to support proper rest and recovery.
Opposition health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier told reporters that, if elected in November, the coalition would enter into good faith negotiations with the union.
"This government hasn't understood the complexity of our whole system and hasn't understood the needs of what is going on," she said.
"The system is at breaking point."
