Senior doctors’ strike: Further industrial action being considered

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.

A doctors’ union is considering “further industrial action” after Thursday’s 24-hour senior doctors’ strike.

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 at Rotorua Hospital.

The strike delayed planned appointments and procedures around the country.

It came after mediation failed to avert the strike and the union refused to take Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand’s latest offer to members.

Among strikers were sexual health medicine specialist Dr Massimo Giola, who said he would be the only such specialist working in Bay of Plenty and Lakes hospitals from next week when his colleague retired.

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.

“We believe we have made a fair and reasonable offer, and we have applied to the Employment Relations Authority for facilitation.”

Te Whatu Ora did not have detailed information about the impacts of the strike on Tauranga and Rotorua hospitals immediately available on Friday.

Megan Wilson is a health and general news reporter for the Bay of Plenty Times and the Rotorua Daily Post. She has been a journalist since 2021.