Statement attributable to Dr Richard Sullivan, Chief Clinical Officer Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora

The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists industrial action ended at 11.59pm last night.

I want to acknowledge and thank our hospital staff and contingency planning teams who worked in the lead up to and throughout the industrial action to ensure the continued deliver of care and treatment to patients.

As part of our contingency planning before the strike some planned care appointments were postponed so we could focus on clinical care for acute and priority patients. Any appointments that were deferred due to the strike action will be rescheduled for the next available opportunity.

The impact of the strike varied by hospital, depending on acute care demand on the day and the number of ASMS members who made the decision to strike.

We remain very concerned about the additional delay caused to a significant number of patients on 1 May. 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.  We are increasing the capacity to train new doctors and providing more places at medical schools. We are also reshaping models of care and increasing primary care capacity to ensure there are better early interventions.

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

Again, thank you to our teams for the care and support they deliver to our patients and communities every day.