$200 an hour 'not enough'

Senior doctors are seeking special rates in compensation for the increased work load as their junior colleagues prepare to go on strike.

Two years ago, when a week-long junior strike occurred, senior staff were paid $200 an hour.

With the Resident Doctors Association preparing to strike for two days from April 22, the 3000-member Association of Salaried Medical Specialists said the 2006 rates for senior doctors will "simply not do".

Executive director Ian Powell said that while operations would be scaled back during the strike, doctors would still be left to deal with life-threatening situations, and that deserved compensation.