Statement attributable to Dr Dale Bramley, Health New Zealand Chief Executive

Health New Zealand is focused on patient safety during next week’s nurses’ strikes, which we are deeply concerned will result in delays to treatment, services and care for an estimated 13,850 patients.

Contingency plans are in place to ensure those who need care the most will still be able to receive it, but the planned strikes on 2 & 4 September will see our hospitals disrupted for the entire week.

They will cause further delay to patients waiting for treatment, disrupt treatment and care for those already in hospital and set back our work to improve access to services.

It is estimated that 2,250 planned procedures, 3,600 first specialist appointments and 8,000 follow-up appointments will be postponed due to the strikes.

We are focused on maintaining safety for patients already in hospital and those needing emergency care during the strikes. Hospitals and all emergency departments will remain open, with a small number of staff providing life-preserving services.

The public is encouraged to only use EDs for genuine emergencies. Patients with non-urgent needs will face longer delays to be seen.

Our hospitals are always busy at this time of the year managing increased demand due to winter illness and we plan for this. The strikes will put extra pressure on our teams and facilities and that is why we need to keep EDs for emergency care only.

As is standard practice in our EDs, patients presenting will be prioritised based on clinical need. This means that during the strike patients triaged as being non-urgent may face a longer delay in being seen.

Our advice for all patients during the strikes is:

  • people requiring non-emergency care should contact their GP or call Healthline on 0800 611 116 in the first instance, because we need to keep EDs for emergencies only
  • all emergency departments will remain open
  • patients in hospital will receive safe care
  • unless you are contacted directly, please attend any scheduled outpatient appointment or treatment.

The planned strike action has already impacted on the more than 300 graduate nurses who were due to start work in our hospitals on 1 September.  Their state date will be delayed by a week to ensure they can be fully supported as they transition into our workforce.

We have listened to our nurses’ concerns on safe services and the employment of graduate nurses and we are ready and willing to work with the union on solutions.

We are absolutely committed to ensuring that we have the right staff and skill mix to deliver quality, safe patient care.