Junior doctors are being “cheated out” of study leave and instead having to use accrued days off, the Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation has alleged.

The issue was “widespread” across NSW, but in one extreme example, the union said junior doctors at Liverpool Hospital reported being told they could not access study leave because they had too many accrued days off. 

Junior doctors in NSW who work 40 hours a week are provided with one additional day off (ADO) a month so that the hours they work average out to 38 per week, which is what they are paid for. 

The ADO, which is part of the Public Hospital Medical Officers (State) Award 2023, is intended to be rostered every four weeks. However, where this is not possible, junior doctors can accumulate a maximum of three, NSW Health said.