Statement attributable to Dame Helen Stokes-Lampard, Acting Chief Clinical Officer Health New Zealand

Health New Zealand would like to reassure the public that plans are in place to ensure the continued delivery of hospital services tomorrow despite the nurses’ strike.

Nurses who are members of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) are striking for 24 hours from 9am tomorrow.

During the strike we are encouraging people requiring non-emergency care to contact their GP or call Healthline on 0800 611 116 in the first instance, as we need to keep EDs for emergencies only.

Our hospitals are always busy at this time of the year managing increased demand due to winter illness and we plan for this. The strike 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 significant delay in being seen.

To maintain patient safety most 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 and specialist appointments 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.

While we are aware of NZNO’s commentary in recent weeks we would like to reassure New Zealanders that Health NZ is completely committed to safe staffing.

For us safe staffing in a busy hospital environment includes the skills mix of the staff, the way care is provided, strong clinical judgement, flexibility and thoughtful decision making from our experienced leaders on the frontline.  We take responsibility for operational and patient safety decisions seriously as we are accountable for the safety of patients who access our services.

We believe the offer we have made to the union is a fair one and we encourage the union to focus its efforts on bargaining so we can resolve the outstanding issues.

Our advice for all patients is:

  • we are encouraging people requiring non-emergency care to contact their GP or call Healthline on 0800 611 116 in the first instance as we need to keep EDs for emergencies only
  • the strike 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. During the strike patients triaged as being non-urgent may face a significant delay in being seen
  • all emergency departments will remain open and hospital patients will receive safe care
  • unless you are contacted directly, please attend any scheduled outpatient appointment or treatment.