Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs Hand said he regularly worked from 7am to 6pm at the Epping hospital, in Melbourne’s north, clocking up to 10 hours of unpaid overtime a week.“There was an implied understanding that you needed to come in up to an hour before the official paid shift started to prepare the list of patients, their blood results, their medications, their discharge summaries so that the day-to-day ward activities weren’t interrupted to do those tasks,” he recalled.At the end of shifts, Hand said there was an expectation that junior doctors would work for up to an additional hour to prepare a hand-over as well as compile discharge summaries, medication lists and death certificates.He said the situation left him fatigued, contributing to his risk of burnout.“Study after study demonstrates that the more tired and overworked doctors are, the more likely they are to make clinical errors,” Hand said. “That’s compromising patient safety.”He said the exhausting experience cemented his desire to become a GP, a profession that allows him more control over his hours and a better work-life balance.“The experience of the overtime certainly consolidated my plan to move into general practice.”Hand, who now works as a GP at the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service in St Albans in Melbourne’s north, described the settlement as “a great relief”. He hopes it paves the way for better conditions for junior doctors across the state.The Age has followed the backpay proceedings for several years, since junior doctors first sounded the alarm about unrostered overtime causing ill health among staff and increasing the risk of errors.Discharge summaries, tending to emergency department patients and pre-ward round notes were among the chief drivers of overtime – but medicos said the flow-on effects to patient safety were always their main concern.Gordon Legal partner Andrew Grech, who was responsible for the class actions along with Hayden Stephens & Associates since they were launched in the Federal Court four years ago, said all parties had done a “terrific job” to settle a complex case.“It’s a great example of how the class action regime can provide a very powerful pathway for people to get access to legal redress,” he said.“I think the applicants, including the union and all the doctors who acted – and the health services – are to be congratulated for coming to a resolution on it. It’s now for the court to decide whether it approves the settlement or not.”Australian Salaried Medical Officers’ Federation president Dr Roderick McRae, from the union that represented the junior doctors, said he hoped it was the end of the saga.“We look forward to the payments coming through as rapidly as possible.”A government spokeswoman said the state government took the health and wellbeing of all medical staff seriously.“It is why we commissioned a review into the Victorian Public Sector Medical Staff Workplace Systems and Employment Arrangements,” she said. “We are currently considering the recommendations of this review.”A Department of Health spokesman said the parties were pleased to have reached the $175 million in-principle agreement.“Steps are currently being taken to bring an application for approval of the in-principle agreement before the Federal Court,” he said.Northern Health was contacted for comment.Opposition health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier blamed the length and total cost of the saga on “Labor’s incompetence”.“Now taxpayers will foot a monumental bill,” she said. “Labor can’t manage money, can’t manage health and it’s Victorians who are paying the price.”Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
