Hundreds of South Australian public doctors will walk off the job this morning as part of a protracted industrial dispute with the State Government over pay and conditions.
The state's Salaried Medical Officers Association (SASMOA) said it had been locked in negotiations with the Government for months.
The union said doctors were offered a 1.5 per cent wage increase by the Government a month ago.
But it said that deal was rejected unanimously by members because it did not include guarantees around other conditions involving paternity leave and domestic violence leave.
SASMOA president Dr Laura Willington said other medical staff including paramedics and nurses have recently received pay rises of at least 2.5 per cent.
"Our enterprise agreement expired in April 2016. We've been negotiating with government since then," she said.
Dr Willington said the morning stop work action would not mean patients were left unattended.
"There'll be the equivalent of weekend cover left at the hospitals but at the major hospitals — the Lyell McEwin, Flinders and the Royal Adelaide Hospital — elective surgery has been cancelled, as well as a number of outpatient clinics," she said.
"People presenting for emergency treatment or surgery presenting to the EDs or ICUs won't be affected."
But Health Minister Peter Malinauskas said only a small number of elective surgeries had been cancelled.
"This has been foreseen by the Government, that means we've been able to plan for it and our expectation today is that their industrial action will have minimal impact on the services being provided for in our public hospitals," Mr Malinauskas said.
Dr Willington said it has been seven years since the state's public doctors last made such a move.
She said talks with the newly appointed Health Minister had been "positive" after negotiations with his predecessor, Jack Snelling, stalled.
The industrial action will take place this morning and doctors are expected to resume work in the afternoon.
