Minister for mental health Rose Jackson could not provide the cost of newly appointed VMOs or the number of acting psychiatrists to the Estimates committee.
In the shadow of the mass resignation of public psychiatrists from the NSW system, the minister for mental health Rose Jackson still can’t say how many psychiatrists are employed by the state, how many positions are vacant or how much newly appointed VMOs are costing taxpayers.
Ms Jackson was last week of being unprepared for Budget Estimates after taking questions about the VMO costs, costs of the virtual emergency mental health care hubs and the breakdown of acting locum doctors, VMOs and staff specialist psychiatrists on notice.
When asked by the Opposition how many full-time staff specialist psychiatrists held permanent positions in NSW Health as of 28 December 2024 and how many were currently employed, Ms Jackson said the workforce headcount was 443.
“That is my understanding of the head count that is funded by NSW Health to work across the district, so that that hasn’t changed,” she said.
“But … those positions are not all filled at the moment, and they’re certainly not all filled full time.”
Ms Jackson could not provide the number of current acting psychiatrists in the system.
“What I want to know, and what I am constantly being updated on is, do we have enough people in the system … to deliver the quality of care that we expect to be delivered,” she said.
“We do have information about how many people are working in different roles in different districts, but it is not straightforward as it is changing every single day.”
When pushed to provide the breakdown, the minster said she didn’t have that information available.
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She was accused of being unprepared for estimates by liberal MP Natasha Maclaren-Jones.
Ms Jackson said the question was difficult to answer as the situation was ongoing, and that the government had made various offers that had been repeatedly met with a request to “undo 12 years of wage suppression in 12 months”.
Ms Jackon could not even tell the committee the date that she last met with the Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation – the union representing the state-employed psychiatrists.
NSW Health and the ASMOF will be appearing in front of the Industrial Relations Commission from Monday about the ongoing dispute
Ms Jackson said that there had been 206 indications of an intention to resign, with 62 now processed, 38 withdrawn and 109 deferred.
A total of 72 staff have agree to transition to VMO roles, but only 27 are acting.
The cost of the 72 VMOs was not available as it was “undetermined” due to variable contracts across different districts, she said.
When asked to give a ballpark figure, Ms Jackson said she didn’t have the numbers.
“We take our oaths to give honest answers here quite seriously, because this is an evolving, ongoing, albeit hopefully temporary situation,” said Ms Jackson.
“The cost differential between what we would hypothetically be paying staff specialists and those VMO contracts, which as I said vary district by district, is not something that we have.
“If I were to say what the cost of employing VMOs across NSW Health districts is and then present that figure as though that cost is associated with this current industrial campaign, that would be inaccurate because, for example, Far West LHD previously was entirely VMO-based psychiatry.”
Deputy leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council Sarah Mitchell asked if the VMOs were being paid, and if so how it was possible not to have any indication of the cost.
Ms Jackson said she could provide standard VMO rates on notice.
“That’d be a start,” said Ms Mitchell.
The cost of the virtual mental health emergency care hubs was taken on notice.
In a statement to Health Services Daily, Ms Jackson said the government would abide by the Industrial Relations Commission’s decision, even though both she and health minister Ryan Park have asserted on a number of occasions that the government cannot afford this.
“The NSW government has urged psychiatrists not to resign and to stay with us as we work toward a fair and reasonable solution,” Ms Jackson told HSD.
“Our preference is to build a sustainable and resilient public mental health workforce, and Psychiatrists are a vital part of this.”
“Providing care for our state’s most vulnerable mental health patients is non-negotiable and we will not allow this to be compromised.
“We are committing to upholding the decision of the independent industrial umpire, the NSW Industrial Relations Commission.
“We ask psychiatrists to allow the independent process to deliver a fair and reasonable outcome.”
ASMOF’s NSW Industrial Officer Ian Lisser told HSD yesterdaythat there had been no meaningful negotiations between the warring parties ahead of the compulsory arbitration.
He said the ministry’s submission to the IRC had been provided to ASMOF, but he could not reveal details of what it contained. However, he did say that it included numbers around resignations and vacant positions.
“We’ve already gone through that and it’s full of assumptions – it can’t be trusted,” he said.
“It’s not transparent basically, so we’re still none the wiser as to the exact figures.”
He said he expected the hearing to be fiery, with both sides expected to call witnesses.
“I think it’s going to be absolutely damning,” Mr Lisser said.
The hearing starts at 10am on Monday.
