The housing change that has these doctors furious

Fly-in-fly-out anaesthetists are threatening to boycott Dubbo Base Hospital because of a cut to their accommodation budget, potentially disrupting surgeries and services at a major regional hospital heavily reliant on a temporary workforce.

Western NSW Local Health District emailed visiting medical offers (VMOs) last week informing them that the hospital would only house temporary staff in apartments, units and a motel owned by the hospital, and would no longer pay for the accommodation of their choice.

In subsequent email chains seen by the Herald, doctors raised concerns ranging from the distance between the hospital and the accommodation to a lack of comfortable furniture and crockery.

One anaesthetist said the hospital’s accommodation was “often dirty, riddled with ants and cockroaches, with uncomfortable furnishings and very poorly maintained”, and that they would “need to reconsider” their work at the hospital if the changes were enforced.

Another said spending days and weeks away from family could be difficult, and they expected to be compensated with accommodation that is “comfortable, has facilities such as coffee making, appropriate supply of toiletries, soap, tissues, bottled water and adequate cooking facilities so that we don’t have to eat out every night”.

Responding to the complaint, chief executive Debbie Bickerton said the accommodation was up to standard and most VMOs were comfortable with the changes.

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“You remain unhappy due to the lack of coffee table, height of the crockery and only 4 pieces of each crockery in the unit … it is my opinion that the accommodation offered free for your convenience is entirely reasonable,” she wrote.

VMOs are private medical specialists who work in hospitals as contractors rather than salaried employees. Their hours vary depending on individual agreements with hospitals, but they can earn anywhere from $160 an hour to more than $300 an hour for a senior staff specialist.