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

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora would like to reassure the Gisborne community that plans are in place to ensure the continued delivery of hospital services tomorrow despite the senior doctors’ strike.

Senior doctors who are members of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) are striking all day tomorrow (Wednesday 28 May) from 12.01am – 11.59pm.

Gisborne Hospital and emergency department will remain open during the strike action and other clinical staff including doctors will still be available to ensure the continued availability of health services for those who need them.

Some surgeries will continue tomorrow however to maintain patient safety, some clinics will be closed. If you have a hospital appointment tomorrow, please come to your appointment unless we have contacted you directly to reschedule.

Any appointments that are deferred due to the strike action will be rescheduled for the next available opportunity.

We believe we have made a fair and reasonable offer given the budget constraints we have and the current economic environment.

We recognise the concerns raised in regard to workforce shortages and we are committed to growing our permanent medical workforce.

Since August 2024 we have hired 3.5 FTE permanent doctors and 6 FTE fixed term. In addition to this we have hired a permanent Chief Medical Officer who will start later this year and appointed 11 FTE permanent doctors who will start in the coming months. 

In the Health NZ offer to senior doctors, we offered an allowance of $25,000 for hard to recruit districts, including Tairāwhiti, to assist in attracting and retaining senior doctors.