Doctors across several major hospitals will stop work next week in the first protected industrial action by Victorian public doctors in 20 years.

Doctors will walk off the job for three and a half hours at hospitals including the Royal Melbourne Hospital, St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne and the Royal Women’s Hospital on 13 August as enterprise bargaining with the State Government stalls. 

The action, by members of the Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation (ASMOF) Victoria, will involve a stop-work meeting between 12:30pm and 4pm in Melbourne’s Parkville medical precinct.

AMA Victoria president Dr Simon Judkins stressed that doctors in critical care areas, such as ED or neonatal ICU, would continue working so that patient safety was not impacted.