Fifty senior doctors from Gisborne Hospital walked off the job at midnight for a 24-hour strike. Photo: Liam Clayton / The Gisborne Herald
- Senior doctors at Gisborne Hospital are striking from 12:01am to 11:59pm on Wednesday 28 May.
- Several doctors will remain working in the Emergency Department during the strike, and Health New Zealand said the hospital is open for anyone who needs it.
- It's expected that some planned care procedures and elective operations will be delayed, but the figures on how many won't be available from Health NZ until after the strike.
- Senior doctors and Health NZ are also in the midst of wage negotiations.
Fifty senior doctors from Gisborne Hospital walked off the job at midnight for a 24-hour strike in protest of their working conditions.
The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) told RNZ 45 percent of senior medical officer roles are currently vacant at the hospital, and it has written to the government twice to express concern about the hospital being "on the brink of collapse".
Senior doctor Alex Raines said they did not make the decision to strike lightly, as it will impact patients.
"There will be some delays in outpatient clinics and things, I was supposed to see a number of patients on Wednesday that I won't be able to see this week.
"Honestly those delays are small compared to the delays we have every week just due to short staffing," he said.
Raines worries about the impact on all hospital staff, and said senior doctors are severely understaffed.
"We are all really struggling and quite exhausted trying to keep things afloat. In my department of general medicine we are reliant on locums to keep the department from closing.
"It's really challenging and limits what we can do for planned care - we're basically just keeping our acute services running," he said.
The doctors also went on strike on 1 May, to highlight the staffing crisis, but Raines said they are doing it again because there has been no response from Health NZ or the government.
"So we're still waiting for some kind of plan or strategy on how to staff our hospital long term.
"Looking ahead we have multiple staffing gaps and we have no idea how to fill them and how we are going to keep our services open," said Raines.
Health NZ's chief clinical officer Dr Richard Sullivan told RNZ it has been working hard with senior doctors in Tairāwhiti, as it has had challenges in recruiting senior staff into that region for many years.
Dr Sullivan said locum doctors are supporting them, and permanent staff are on the way.
"We have 11 permanent staff that have signed up to come over the coming months. But it does take time to recruit a senior doctor - particularly if they are coming from overseas by the time they go through the various steps," he said.
Health NZ's chief clinical officer Dr Richard Sullivan. Photo: RNZ / Calvin Samuel
He said it was unfortunate the doctors are holding a second strike this month.
"This will have an impact. We will have to reduce the number of operations we undertake and we will have to reduce the number of clinics - that's unfortuante for patients in that community," he said.
"I just want to recognise the stress on the permanent staff at Gisborne Hospital - it's been tough for them as they've had unfilled shifts for many years. It is a challenge - I completey accept that," said Dr Sullivan.
"Demand keeps going up"
Gisborne Hospital's former chief medical officer Eric McClean told RNZ these challenges have been ongoing for years, and there are some complex reasons behind it.
"The shortage of senior doctors has really put us in a bind. Considering the complexities of the patient demographic we get ... it's really a struggle to manage and demand keeps going up each year.
"Patients are living longer and we're seeing them more. With the decrease of primary care and lack of preventative care we get huge demands coming into the hospital," he said.
Dr McClean said that means the hospital becomes a default for a lot of patients who cannot see a GP.
"So with that we're unable to maintain proper staffing levels for senior medical officers ... and it's all the other support services, things like administrative support.
"It is extremely difficult to hire to new administrative positions - you'll have entire departments without a PA - meaning all that work, documentation and even copies of things have to be done by the clinicians themselves," he said.
Which he worries is adding to their burden of work.
"It takes us away from our core responsibility which is seeing patients and making sure they are getting better," he said.
The message from Tairāwhiti's senior doctors to government is clear. "Invest in our hospital, invest in our community. We know our community deserves better," said Dr Raines.
Gisborne Mayor Rehette Stoltz told Morning Report the community stood behind the doctors despite the likely delays.
"I think we need to look at the bigger picture, yes there will be disruptions to clinics or delayed operations, but I think there is a fear in our community that if this is not addressed, there will be serious affects down-stream for our community."
Stoltz said it was a struggle to attract permanent senior doctors across all of rural New Zealand.
The senior doctors will be on strike until 11:59pm Wednesday, and are raising money for the Tairāwhiti Super Grans food bank while they are off the job.
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