Patients flown out before strike begins

By MARTIN JOHNSTON

The first critically ill patients were flown out of Auckland yesterday as four of the country's most-specialised hospitals braced for a four-day radiographers' strike starting tomorrow.

The radiographers' union warned that more strikes were possible.

Auckland Hospital's intensive care unit flew out two of its six patients.

One, with a serious infection, went to Waikato Hospital and another, with complications from abdominal surgery, went to Christchurch Hospital.

The 14-bed Auckland unit wants to free space before the four-day walkout by sending patients south if it can do so safely. During the strike it will rely heavily on Middlemore Hospital in South Auckland.

The Auckland District Health Board, which runs Auckland, Green Lane, National Women's and Starship hospitals, has postponed thousands of elective surgical and other appointments because of the strike by 80 of about 100 radiographers, who operate x-ray and other scanning equipment.

No talks were held yesterday between the board and the union, the Association of Professional and Executive Employees. On Friday, the Employment Court rejected the board's bid to stop the strike.

Board communications manager Brenda Saunders said yesterday that the board had written to the union again asking for emergency cover during the strike.

The board wanted only five members to provide emergency cover for the sickest patients, but the union would not even discuss it, she said.

Union secretary Dr Deborah Powell said she had replied to the letter and was prepared to resume talks with the board any time during the long weekend.

"We are still waiting for them to prove that they need them [the members sought for emergency cover]. At the moment all they are saying is, 'Give us these people'."

She said the board's actions, including shifting patients, were a "smokescreen" for the public so the board could maintain its take-it-or-leave-it 2 per cent wage offer.

The union wanted 10.3 per cent. It put a lower, publicly undisclosed, figure to the board, but the board has said it was still too high.

Dr Powell said she hoped a settlement could be reached before the strike. "But if it isn't, there will be more strikes."

The St John Ambulance Service said it would put between seven and 10 extra vehicles on the road during the strike and was setting up an "incident room" team to monitor strike-related patient transfers.

Staff would work overtime and extra shifts on what would have been days off, said contingency co-ordinator Glenn Rose.

The Australia and NZ Intensive Care Society said it had serious concerns about patient safety during the strike.

Shifting critically ill patients created a small risk, it said, and was justified if it was for the patients' clinical benefit, but unacceptable when caused by a strike.