Negotiations on doctors' strike stalled

Last-ditch negotiations to stop a nationwide strike by junior doctors were stalled temporarily today because the district health boards' chief negotiator failed to show.

Bad weather, which caused air traffic chaos around the country, was thought to be to blame for Nigel Murray's absence from the negotiating table in Auckland, where a power blackout and overloaded cellphone networks were further complicating events.

A five-day doctors' strike is planned to start on Thursday involving about 2500 Resident Doctors' Association members from around the country.

Resident Doctors' Association general secretary Deborah Powell said "acts of God" such as bad weather aside, it appeared the DHBs were actively attempting to frustrate negotiations.

She said the DHBs' much-vaunted plan announced yesterday to set up a committee composed of senior and junior doctors, nurses, management and other parties, was nothing but "a red herring".

"It's a smokescreen to try to patch up what is essentially a shonky offer," she said this morning.

The first that the union had heard about this committee was when the DHBs called a press conference yesterday.

"It's a complete side issue, which has nothing to do with the offer on the table," she said.

During talks to date, the DHBs had been mooting a completely different committee, composed of just the employers and junior doctors.

That suggestion did not meet with the union's approval either.

"Every Kiwi knows that forming a committee is the fastest way to do nothing," Dr Powell said.

She said the press conference and the $40,000 that the DHBs had spent on newspaper advertisements today were a brazen attempt to "enlist public sympathy".

"How much are they spending on their public relations company too?" she asked.

"It looks like they are trying to frustrate the negotiations process."

If the action goes ahead, it will be the first national strike by junior doctors affecting more than 10,000 patients and likely to force the cancellation of all but emergency care.

A spokeswoman for the DHBs said talks were scheduled for today and tomorrow and the employers would not be making any public comment before then unless a settlement was reached earlier.

The National Party's health spokesman, Tony Ryall, said the Government was to blame for the spread of "industrial sickness" in the health system.

"Thousands of patients will wait even longer for treatment as strike action threatens to cripple hospitals this week," he said.

"The Government knew it was coming and has done nothing to stop it."

When former health minister Annette King granted nurses a 20 to 30 per cent "catch up" pay rise (to compensate for historic neglect), she admitted other health workers would want parity.

Yet this year the Government had given DHBs less than 3 per cent to meet pay claims, he said.

As well as the junior doctors' dispute, radiation therapists were on strike until late Wednesday, disrupting cancer treatment, general practice was "also in revolt" over the Government's attempts to control their business, and pharmacy negotiations were also in trouble, Mr Ryall said.

"Under [Health Minister] Pete Hodgson the health system is falling to Third World status -- even the surgeons are saying that now," he said.

- NZPA