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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 6 Hansard (18 June) . . Page.. 2036 ..
MR STEFANIAK
(continuing):My wife's doctor, who came to see me about six weeks ago, is going back to New Zealand, where he came from originally. His main reason for moving is that he simply does not like the idea of having things hanging over his head for 20 or more years. He had real concerns about the insurance. It was simply not worth his while and he was off back to New Zealand, and that causes us some personal problems, of course, because of my wife's medical condition. We are not Robinson Crusoe-there are lots of families in that boat.
Another doctor is stopping surgery at Charnwood. In fact, I am very worried about north-west Belconnen. We have lost Dr Berenson from MacGregor and we have also lost the doctor at Charnwood. There are a multitude of reasons for this but one of them is insurance. I would be wrong if I said that was the sole reason, but certainly that was again a reason in the general mix.
It is a real problem and it is not going to go away. We cannot force people into these professions. You cannot force someone to be a doctor and if people do not go into a profession like that we will be very much in dire straits. We ignore this situation at our peril. We have to look outside the square. We have to look at sensible solutions that are going to assist the situation, that are going to keep people in this profession.
Not all doctors, just like not all lawyers, are millionaires. I know of a number of doctors whose basic standard take-home pay before tax is about 50 grand a year. Also, I know a lot of lawyers whose take-home base is probably around $40,000 a year. I wonder at times whether you would be better off-
Mr Quinlan
: Good lawyers, Bill?MR STEFANIAK
: Not bad ones, actually, Ted. I wonder at times whether you would be better off as an ASO6 in the public service. You would probably get a lot more satisfaction and a lot less hassle with things hanging over your head. As I said earlier, it is not quite as bad for lawyers. They do not have quite the same problem with their legal professional indemnity insurance-it is not quite that bad yet but with doctors it is.I am concerned that we are seeing doctors leaving the profession in droves. In some instances they are going into the public health system, where at least they can keep up their skills. But others are saying, "Look, this is all too hard. I want to do something else, let me out. I do not want these things hanging over my head when, through really no fault of my own, I can be subject to being sued for an accident that occurred-I wasn't negligent, it was just an accident-20 or 25 years down the track."That just isn't fair and it is quite understandable that they are leaving the profession and they simply just don't want to play anymore.
We need to get away from the culture of litigation. We need to ensure that if someone is injured they can be confident that they will be treated and properly rehabilitated. That is what we do with workers comp; that is what Mr Smyth's bills seek to achieve. What we are doing to compensate victims of crime has received a big tick. Dr Anthony Dare stresses that in his report; indeed, it in the government response. It is not just a matter of getting the money-rehabilitation is actually far more important.
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