5:15 PM
It appears as if there has been a total settlement of the junior doctors dispute, throughout the country.
Earlier today doctors everywhere but in Auckland agreed to call off strike action after hospitals accepted a proposed pay package.
Late this afternoon Auckland's junior doctors, who have been negotiating separately, said they were calling off a strike planned for later this month.
The Chief Executives of 18 public hospitals outside Auckland were given until midday today by the Resident Doctors Association to approve a new contract offer.
Although they missed that deadline, they informed the doctors' association that they would accept the terms of the settlement package.
The proposed two-year contract remains under wraps, but it is believed to contain complex changes to base salary rates and training entitlements.
The doctors originally asked for 20 per cent pay rise, payed training, payed leave for conferences and accelerated salary progression. The hospitals had offered 9 per cent over two years.
In response to the agreement, striking junior doctors in Waikato have agreed to return to the wards as a gesture of good faith.
Health Minister Annette King says good faith bargaining is behind the averting of a nationwide strike.
Ms King says the settlement between the chief executives and the doctors has been achieved through what she calls the "new industrial relations environment."
- IRN
Doctors talk of national strike
Settlement looks complete in doctors' pay row
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