Junior staff ‘vulnerable’ as doctors strike again
Two-day strikes were not getting the message across and junior doctors have to take the next step to make their voices heard, a Southland doctor’s union delegate says.
Dr Mike Peebles believed the current negotiations between the New Zealand Resident Doctors’ Association (NZRDA) and district health boards had made junior doctors vulnerable to exploitation.
One concern Peebles raised was that, under current negotiations, junior doctors could be moved out of their region without consent, having a big effect on young families.
‘‘We want to be working, and hopefully the DHBs can come to the table so we can do so under less exploitative practices.’’
Association members will go on a five-day strike from 8am on Monday to 8am on May 4.
The upcoming strike will be the fifth strike the NZRDA has held over disputes with DHBs regarding the terms of the doctors’ collective agreement.
Southland doctors would be heading to Dunedin to picket outside Health Minister Dr David Clark’s office on Monday, followed by volunteer work later in the week, Peebles said.
He believed having the Employment Relations Authority as a third party during negotiations between the NZRDA and DHBs would be beneficial.
Southern District Health Board chief executive Chris Fleming said while having a third party to facilitate in the negotiations was positive step, it had not averted the upcoming strike action.
Facilitation would begin late next week.
Prior to further negotiations, Fleming said he would have to deal with pressure that the strike would place on the health board.
‘‘While our contingency planning team is working to minimise the effect of the strike, I’m sorry to say a full work week of job action
‘‘We want to be working, and hopefully the DHBs can come to [the] table so we can do so under less exploitative practices.’’ Dr Mike Peebles
will have considerable impact on hospital health services,’’ he said.
Patients whose planned surgeries or appointments had been postponed would be contacted by phone, text or letter. Acute services such as emergency surgeries, cancer treatments, renal dialysis, intensive care and most maternity services and emergency departments would remain open.
NZRDA senior advocate David Munro said the strike followed a period where no strike action had been taken out of respect for the victims of the Christchurch shooting and technical reasons.
‘‘Unfortunately, any opportunity that the gap between the last strike and this one might have afforded to the DHBs to rethink their provocative bargaining position has not been taken up.
‘‘Our members are very disappointed to be forced into this position,’’ Munro said.