The Australian Medical Association has called on immediate action among health departments after a snapshot of Australia's trainee doctors shows more than a third have witnessed or experienced workplace mistreatment for successive years.
The problem is even more severe among Indigenous trainees, the survey found.
Results showed 35 per cent of junior doctors saw or experienced bullying, harassment or discrimination, compared with 34 per cent in 2020 and 33 per cent in 2019.
Medical trainees said the mistreatment came mostly from senior doctors, followed by nurses and midwives, and patients and their families.
The results released on Monday coincide with significant demands on hospitals and GP clinics across the country during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Just under half of trainees said they were never or sometimes paid for unrostered overtime, and half said their workload was heavy or very heavy.
It also found about two thirds of those who had experienced bullying or saw it happening did not report it, and of those who did, only 58 per cent were satisfied with the way incidents were handled.
More than 21,000 junior doctors, just more than half of Australia's medical trainees, responded to the survey, which was funded by the Medical Board of Australia and run in August and September last year.
The survey found the problems impacted on doctors' training, with 38 per cent of trainees who'd experienced mistreatment reporting moderate or major impacts on their work.
The problem was worse for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander trainees, with 52 per cent experiencing or witnessing bullying, harassment or discrimination, compared with 35 per cent of junior doctors overall.
"Disturbingly, there is a significant and unacceptable difference in the incidence of these issues reported by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander doctors in training," Medical Board of Australia chair Anne Tonkin said.
"Racism in healthcare is never acceptable and we all have to do better," she said.
The survey also showed some improvement in medical supervision, with 80 per cent of junior doctors still prepared to recommend their jobs to other trainees.
The results showed medical training was adversely affected in the states worst hit by the pandemic.
"MTS results are showing there's a lot going well in medical training in Australia. But some small changes in 2021, which may relate to the impact of the pandemic, warrant close attention in the years ahead," Dr Tonkin said.
AMA President Dr Omar Khorshid said the survey demonstrated the need to act now to tackle systemic issues impacting the training and wellbeing of trainee doctors.
“It’s time for state and territory health departments to get serious about valuing the time doctors in training spend learning and providing excellent patient care by reviewing and providing appropriate staffing and adopting better rostering practices," Dr Khorshid said in a statement.
“They also need to take concrete steps to guarantee a safe working environment for doctors and other staff in public hospitals.
"Turning a blind eye to practices that allow doctors to work excessive unpaid, unrostered overtime is not only inefficient and unproductive, but it puts patient care and doctor wellbeing at risk,” he added.
He said the fact that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander doctors reported even higher levels of bullying, discrimination and harassment, including racism compared to non-Indigenous colleagues was "very disturbing".
“No one should experience racial discrimination, harassment or vilification in their place of work and/or learning environment. Our workplaces benefit when they harness the skills and perspectives of all peoples that make up Australia. It is vital that doctors and medical students can practice in a culturally safe environment where cultural differences are acknowledged and respected.”
Dr Khorshid said the AMA wanted legislative changes in all states and territories to improve health service leadership, governance and accountability to provide a culturally and psychologically safe work environment for all employees.
Dr Hash Abdeen, Chair AMA Council of Doctors in Training, said the survey also found that despite interruptions to training because of COVID-19, many trainees rated their training experience highly in the 2021 survey.
“This is a testament to the high quality of training in Australia and commitment from supervisors, Colleges and senior medical staff to supporting trainee during this challenging time,” Dr Abdeen said.
With SBS News
