Hospitals stand by for strike overflow

By MATHEW DEARNALEY

Hospitals across the country are standing by to take emergency cases from Auckland.

Separate strikes by two groups of specialist medical staff - heart and lung technicians and radiographers - will force hospitals to put off up to 1400 non-urgent operations this week.

Hospitals as distant as Christchurch and Wellington have been alerted to help with emergency operations, including renal and neurological cases.

The country's only liver transplant team will be sent to Christchurch from Auckland if a donated organ suddenly becomes available for a patient in critical need.

Waikato and Hawkes Bay hospitals are being considered for patients needing ventilation, while premature babies may be sent to Hamilton.

The Auckland District Health Board says lives could be in danger through disruption to accident and emergency departments if a legal challenge to next week's strike by about 100 radiographers fails in the Employment Court tomorrow.

Another attempt at mediation will be made today.

A separate three-day strike by 36 heart and lung technicians began yesterday after two days of working to rule.

The board has already postponed elective surgery and other treatment for about 250 heart and lung patients, mainly at Green Lane Hospital.

It is also postponing at least a further 1000 operations in anticipation of the strike by radiographers, who operate a range of diagnostic scanning technology as well as x-ray Machines at Auckland, Starship, Green Lane and National Women's hospitals.

Although the strike is directed against the Auckland board, neighbouring hospitals including Middlemore and North Shore also expect to postpone non-urgent operations to free capacity for emergency cases.

Auckland chief operating officer Marek Stepniak said radiographers were needed to diagnose up to 80 per cent of hospital patients and he accused the technicians' union of recklessness because it would not provide emergency cover.

But the union, the Association of Professional and Executive Employees, says the board is being alarmist because it appears to have arranged better emergency cover than is normally available at weekends.

Its secretary, Dr Deborah Powell, said the union would provide emergency cover if the board could establish a genuine need on top of its best efforts.

She said the board had refused to disclose its contingency plans, but the union found out enough from medical sources to be satisfied there would be cover from privately run scanning equipment and big mobile x-ray units.

The board had at least 19 non-union radiographers and the union would not discourage retired technicians from answering a call for help.

Mr Stepniak said the union was demanding treble pay for heart and lung technicians to provide emergency cover for the strike that began yesterday, a suggestion strongly denied by Dr Powell.

A pay settlement yesterday between radiographers and the Waitemata District Health Board has freed up some of its services to treat emergency cases from Auckland.

Waitemata's 23 radiographers had also threatened to strike next week.

But patients throughout the region will be urged to seek treatment where possible from general practitioners and suburban accident centres during the Auckland strike.

Waitemata chief executive Dr Dwayne Crombie said non-urgent surgery would be rescheduled to provide enough space to help Auckland patients, although not all elective operations would be postponed.

He would not disclose the size of the settlement but a third-party source said it was high enough to infuriate the Auckland board, which faces pay rise claims of up to 10.4 per cent from radiographers, and 7.97 per cent from heart and lung technicians.

Mr Stepniak rejected a union claim that it would cost just $70,000 to resolve the heart and lung dispute, saying a high settlement would fuel other pay claims.