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

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora would like to reassure the public 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 (Thursday 1 May) from 12.01am – 11.59pm.

Our hospitals and emergency departments 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.

To maintain patient safety, some clinics will be closed. However, 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 are concerned about the impacts the strike action will have on patients waiting for planned care and specialist appointments.

It is estimated that 4,300 planned procedures will have to be postponed due to the strike action causing further harm to patients waiting a long time for treatment and will set back our work to provide New Zealanders with faster access to care.

We value our doctors and want to do the best we can for them, but the reality is that Health NZ has limited budget available for salary settlements within its tight financial constraints.

We are committed to reaching a settlement with ASMS and we have applied to the Employment Relations Authority for facilitation which would give an independent party the opportunity to hear from both sides and make a recommendation.

We are disappointed at the union’s refusal to take our offer to members as we believe this was a fair and reasonable offer given the budget constraints we have and the current economic environment.

Under the offer rejected by the union, over the two years of the agreement, senior doctors would have received increases to base pay ranging from $8,093  to $29,911 to depending on experience. Additionally, those on step 4 to step 15 would have received an $8,000 lump sum payment.