Five-day strike by resident doctors
Canterbury resident doctors will not join their counterparts when they strike for five days at the end of April.
Notice was issued yesterday that the strike will start at 8am on Monday, April 29 and end at 8am, Saturday, May 4.
It covers all district health boards except Canterbury, where the hospital remains under pressure from the March 15 terror attacks.
Doctors were ‘‘forced into this position’’, New Zealand Resident Doctors’ Association senior advocate David Munro said.
The health boards responded by saying the strike was disproportionate and uncalled for.
‘‘How can the union ask for urgent facilitation then threaten this kind of disruption?’’ a statement from spokesman Dr Peter Bramley said.
The resident doctor term can cover anyone from a recent graduate to those nearing the end of specialist training.
The strike will have a major impact on hospitals and their patients, a Resident Doctors’ Association statement said, but the DHBs haven’t rethought their ‘‘provocative bargaining position’’.
‘‘Our members became doctors so they can treat patients and make a better world,’’ Munro said. ‘‘Having to strike simply to retain hard-won improvements to working conditions from past negotiations is deeply upsetting.’’
It was hard to understand why resident doctors were opting for that level of action when a process was under way to find a solution, spokesman for the DHBs Bramley said.
Hospitals worked hard to stop previous strikes having a big effect on patients but ‘‘five days raises the stakes considerably’’.
‘‘Managing acute care becomes a lot harder, patient services will be disrupted and RMOs’ training will be impacted.’’
He also questioned how much support resident doctors had, saying 60 to 65 per cent of registrars worked over the last strikes, and 35 per cent of house officers.
However, the DHBs support the association’s call for facilitation – bringing a third party in to suggest a solution.
They also made a settlement offer which the association wouldn’t show its members, he said, though the DHBs believe it is ‘‘generous and addresses their concerns of safe care’’.
However, the union said that was not true and the offer was circulated to its members.
‘‘The New Zealand Resident Doctors’ Association has requested the DHBs retract and correct their misleading statement,’’ Munro said.