Hundreds of psychiatrists working in NSW hospitals have won a temporary 20 per cent pay rise in a decision designed to lure doctors back to a stretched public sector and end a bitter workforce dispute.

In a long-awaited determination delivered on Friday, the NSW Industrial Relations Commission found an acute shortage of psychiatrists was “causing a deterioration in the quality of mental health care delivered in NSW and a deterioration in the conditions” of staff specialist psychiatrists employed in the state’s public hospitals.

Members of the psychiatry college and doctors’ union arrive for a hearing at the Industrial Court of NSW in June. Credit: Sam Mooy

The NSW government has previously said it would honour the commission’s verdict.

Commission vice president David Chin said lowe

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