Some senior doctors will remain in hospitals to ensure life preserving services are maintained. Photo: RNZ
More than 200 senior doctors and dentists in Northland are striking for 24 hours over their ongoing pay dispute with Health New Zealand.
The union representing them - the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists - said its 240 members in Te Tai Tokerau will be striking from 10am on Wednesday until 10am on Thursday.
ASMS confirmed that 35-40 senior doctors would remain in hospitals to ensure life preserving services were maintained during the strike period.
The doctors and dentists will be staging a mass walkout from Whangārei Hospital on Wednesday morning, and picketing nearby.
Staff will also be picketing outside the Kaitaia Hospital.
ASMS said it asked for a 12 percent pay rise for staff in the coming year, however it said HNZ's offer averaged to about 0.78 percent increase per year, over a period of three years.
It said prior to the current facilitated bargaining, HNZ offered no pay rise for the year starting August 2024, which was when ASMS's collective agreement with HNZ expired.
It said the agency offered a one percent pay rise in the second year, and a two percent increase in the third year.
ASMS organiser Chan Dixon said the inadequate offer would continue to compromise health services.
"A district like Northland is one of the districts in New Zealand where services are falling over, there are huge staff shortages, people are leaving, so we really need to an offer that won't further sink the public health services in New Zealand," she said.
The union said HNZ's offer was well below the CPI and the parties were still "far apart" in the current bargaining process.
Dixon said there would be longer wait times in emergency departments during the strike period, and that the patient flow would also be harder to manage.
She said all elective surgeries would be cancelled during the strike period.
During the last nationwide senior doctors strike on 1 May, 28 planned surgeries were cancelled in Northland.
Hospital services to remain open
Health New Zealand says hospital services would continue today, despite the Northland senior doctors walking off the job.
All hospitals in Northland, including the emergency department at Whangārei Hospital, would remain open during the strike action, said chief clinical officer Dr Richard Sullivan.
He said clinical staff - including doctors - would still be available to ensure health services for those who need them, though some planned treatments may be disrupted.
Patients who had a hospital appointment should come to that appointment unless they had been contacted to reschedule.
"We are currently in facilitated bargaining with ASMS, where we are working towards a further offer to senior doctors," he said.
"We are disappointed that strike action is occurring while this process is ongoing."
Dr Sullivan said Health New Zealand recognised the concerns doctors had raised about workforce shortages "and we are committed to growing our permanent medical workforce".
"Across Northland we employ a total of 272 senior doctors and dentists and we currently have approximately 52 vacant positions of which we have filled 10 FTE and these senior doctors and dentists will start in over the next few months."
Before the strike on 1 May, Health New Zealand said it had increased the offer on base salaries of first year and second year specialists by 9.5 percent and 6.2 percent respectively.
It said it was also offering a lump sum payment of $8000 to doctors with three years or more experience.
However an ASMS spokesperson said that about 85 percent of senior doctors were in the higher bands (bands 14 and 15) and would only be receiving a one percent pay rise in the second year, and a two percent increase in the third year.
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