<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/victoria" rel="" target="" title="Victorian"><span>Victorian</span></a><span> doctors in the public sector have warned they may be forced to strike if negotiations on pay and conditions, including a ban on shifts over 12.5 hours, are not resolved soon.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Almost half of junior doctors have reported concerns about fatigue-related clinical errors, according to data from the Australian Medical Association (AMA).</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The AMA claims burnt-out doctors are sometimes 14 hours into a shift when they assess a patient in emergency.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/mexico-travel-warning-updated-after-drug-kingpin-killed/23bbf797-93ea-4238-8ce7-842a00ae22e9" target="_blank"><strong><span>Warning to Aussies in tourist hotspot after drug boss killed in shootout</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"There's a possibility you're prescribing a medication that's wrong, or you've ordered the wrong investigations. None of us want to go through that," AMA Victoria President Dr Simon Judkins said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This all comes back to patient safety and making sure our doctors have the best conditions to be able to make sure our patients are safe."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Alongside the doctors' union, the AMA has been locked in negotiations with the Department of Health since August for a new agreement to address unsafe rostering, heavy workloads and widespread fatigue.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/victorian-doctors-could-strike-if-negotiations-over-pay-and-conditions-arent-reached-soon/26460bce-5e3e-446d-bffe-cf046b5e06f5" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Doctors are calling for the government to agree to cap shifts at a maximum of 12.5 hours and bring in limits on consecutive night shifts.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/lardner-victoria-teenager-assaulted-antisemitic-incident/c7757698-2e51-4fdd-b47e-d85abb099af2" target="_blank"><strong><span>Teen assaulted in suspected antisemitic attack</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They are also asking for a 30 per cent pay rise over four years.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The current EBA is due to expire at the end of April, with doctors not ruling out going on strike as a last resort.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It's my expectation that every health service is managing the working conditions of their junior doctors," Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We have a range of issues for which we've got common purpose and we continue to negotiate in good faith."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But Judkins said the government was still at odds with the association on several points.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"There are still things we need to come to an agreement on," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Certainly none of us... want to go down a pathway of industrial action if we can avoid that, but clearly if we can't find an agreement, that has to be part of our consideration."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>More medical staff could choose to leave the public system if a new EBA wasn't reached, Judkins warned.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The danger we have at the moment is people are dropping their hours, they're going to part-time, they're dropping out of the public system," Judkins said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We all want a safe system that decreases that stress on our clinicians, gives them a sustainable, long-term career in our public hospital system."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We need to come to an agreement on those things because we want those doctors to stay in the public hospital system."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div 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