KEY POINTS:
Donors have avoided giving much-needed blood amid confusion over whether collection centres are open during the 48-hour laboratory workers' strike.
The uncertainty has prompted the Blood Service to plead with donors to give blood.
"Blood stocks are lower than normal as a result of the long weekend. We
would normally during this week be trying to ramp up collections to try and get back to a steady state, but obviously, with limited staff, we can't process a huge amount.
"Having said that, we don't want donors to get the wrong idea and not come in," said Blood Service spokesman Paul Hayes.
"Already I've had a couple of people email me and say donors are confused because they think that we're closed. Well we're not closed, we're definitely open and we definitely need people to come in."
About 1200 medical laboratory scientists at public hospitals and the Blood Service walked off the job for two days yesterday at 8am - a move that means blood transfusions, blood-testing and tissue-sampling services are unavailable for all but life-threatening injuries.
As the Blood Service provides for private and public hospitals, it is urging donors to still keep their appointments, particularly those giving platelets or plasma. In Auckland alone, 300 donors a day are needed.
Mr Hayes said a lot of the blood would be processed when the strikes ended tomorrow at 8am. He was confident there would be enough blood to weather the strike.
"It puts us under pressure, and it is disruptive, there's no question about that, but at the end of the day, we're coping."
Hospitals have been reducing their use of blood stocks in anticipation of the strike. Yesterday they remained busy, despite cancelling all elective surgery and some procedures requiring lab work.
With 98 per cent union membership among its lab workers, Counties Manukau District Health Board was down to only two non-union staff members.
Chief medical officer Dr Don Mackie said the hospital had had to put off up to 50 elective surgeries. With another one-day strike on April 24, there was concern for the future.
"I was talking to our general surgeons and their view is that we're not in a bad place at the moment. But there's some real anxiety among them about the effects of rolling strikes once they start to accumulate."
Auckland District Health Board has called off procedures on 139 patients.
Chief medical officer Dr David Sage said most outpatient clinics were running as normal, although some pre-operative appointments had been cancelled.
Lab Dispute
* The two-day strike which started yesterday ends at 8am tomorrow.
* 1200 medical laboratory scientists walked off the job, making blood transfusions, blood testing and tissue sampling services unavailable in all but life-threatening situations.
* Another one-day strike takes place on April 24 if talks fail.
