Senior doctors who are members of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists striking outside Tauranga Hospital on Thursday, May 1. Photo / Megan Wilson
Senior doctors who are members of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists striking outside Tauranga Hospital on Thursday, May 1. Photo / Megan Wilson
A doctors’ union is considering further industrial action after Thursday’s 24-hour senior doctors’ strike.
More than 5000 senior doctors participated, impacting hospitals nationwide.
Te Whatu Ora Health NZ remains concerned about delays and is committed to resolving workforce issues.
More than 5000 senior doctors who are Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) members took part in the strike nationally, including 206 at Tauranga Hospital and 100 atRotorua Hospital.
The strike delayed planned appointments and procedures around the country.
Rotorua Hospital anaesthetist and ASMS executive member Andrew Robinson was also striking because, in his view, Health NZ’s offer was “not really adequate” to recruit doctors, improve on-call rosters and “get rid of the [staffing] gaps”.
Senior doctors who are members of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists were striking in Rotorua on May 1. Photo / Supplied
On Friday, an ASMS statement said “further industrial action remains under active consideration”.
ASMS executive director Sarah Dalton said the parties met with an Employment Relations Authority member on Friday as it considered Te Whatu Ora’s application for facilitated bargaining.
“ASMS will respond to the application next week, then the ERA will determine whether it will support the application.”
Health NZ ‘committed’ to settling agreement
Te Whatu Ora chief clinical officer Dr Richard Sullivan acknowledged and thanked its hospital staff and contingency planning teams who worked before and during the industrial action to ensure the continued delivery of care and treatment to patients.
Sullivan said some planned care appointments were postponed to focus on clinical care for acute and priority patients.
Appointments deferred because of the strike would be rescheduled for the next available opportunity, he said.
Sullivan said the impact of the strike varied by hospital, depending on acute care demand on the day and the number of ASMS members who took part in the strike.
Health NZ remained “very concerned” about delays caused to “a significant number of patients” on Thursday.
“We are committed to settling this collective agreement with ASMS members and we recognise the concerns raised by union members in regard to workforce shortages.
“Growing our permanent medical workforce is a focus for now and long term.”
Sullivan said it was increasing the capacity to train new doctors and providing more places at medical schools.
Health NZ was also changing models of care and increasing primary care capacity to ensure there were “better early interventions”, he said.
