Junior doctors’ strike on cards

Next week’s strike by junior doctors is still on the cards, after the New Zealand Resident Doctors’ Association (NZRDA) union failed to agree to the terms of a new collective agreement offered by the country’s 20 district health boards (DHBs).

Two days of mediated bargaining – which wound up yesterday – could not prevent NZRDA union members from walking off the job for 48 hours starting at 7am on Tuesday, January 15.

DHBs were already making contingency plans, many postponing nonessential appointments, procedures and clinics set to coincide with the industrial action.

NZRDA estimates about 3300 doctors will be putting down their stethoscopes. A DHB spokesman said the number of striking doctors was ‘‘closer to 2000’’ – either way, the strike’s impact would be significant.

While hospitals are warning services will be ‘‘severely reduced’’ during the strike, all DHBs say emergency care and life-preserving treatment will be available.

‘‘Patient safety remains our priority . . . our message to the public is: if you need our care, we are here,’’ an Auckland DHB spokeswoman said.

An agreement was also in place which guaranteed sufficient numbers of clinical staff would be made available should a natural disaster or a spike in emergency cases occur.

While the dispute was complex, the major points of contention in the MultiEmployer Collective Agreement (MECA) centred around junior doctors’ rostering, training, pay and work conditions.

After the doctors’ previous collective agreement expired last February, NZRDA president Dr Courtney Brown said the union had ‘‘no other option’’ but to forge ahead with the strike.

‘‘The DHBs’ position means RMOs [junior doctors/resident medical officers]

could be required to work for more than 16 hours in a row, without guarantee of rest and safety.

‘‘RMOs could lose access to education and training, jeopardising the quality of care we are able to deliver to our patients,’’ Brown said.

DHB spokesman Dr Peter Bramley said the current rostering system did not meet the training needs of ‘‘a significant number of doctors and complicates safe patient care’’.

He claimed senior doctors, junior doctors and medical colleges had ‘‘all raised concerns’’ about the system, creating the need for change.

‘‘DHBs are committed to being good employers and will not subject junior doctors to disruptive or dangerous work conditions,’’ Bramley said.

The DHBs were able to agree to terms with the smaller, breakaway resident doctors’ union, the Speciality Trainees of NZ union, over its collective agreement in November.

Duty minister Iain Lees-Galloway encouraged ‘‘all parties to come together’’ to avoid strike action, with the Government keeping a close eye on the situation.