At breaking point
Tired, undervalued and stretched beyond their capacity: This is the morale of Waikato Hospital staff, decked out in orange attire as they protested against pay and conditions in solidarity with 10,000 allied health workers across the country.
They say they are working extra hours almost daily and losing workers to overseas jobs that come with pay of ‘‘tens of thousands of dollars more’’.
The 24-hour strike that began yesterday came as the impact of Covid-19 continues on the health system, leading to a reduction in services and treatments as well as staff. And it follows
reporting on the harsh reality of overwhelmed health services: Waikato woman Aroha Raynel spent more than seven hours waiting to be treated for severe chest pains at the Waikato Hospital emergency department. She gave up when she was told it would take a further 10 hours to see someone.
Allied health staff say the struggles to achieve fair pay have impacted staffing levels and therefore capacity within the hospital. This meant patients were at risk of not receiving the care they needed.
‘‘We are fighting against not having equal opportunities like other health workers in the hospital unit,’’ PSA union delegate and anaesthetic technician, Rachelle Magee said. ‘‘We are basically forced to carry out overtime just about on a daily basis . . . it is hard work, we are tired and basically doing six-day weeks.
‘‘We would like to see an increase in wages to help out with the shortage of staff and pay discrepancies between the different occupations within the health agencies.’’
Those who took to the streets yesterday included alcohol and drug clinicians, sterile sciences technicians, anaesthetic technicians and oral health therapists.
The 24-hour strike was organised by the Public Service Association, which wanted collective agreement negotiations to be handled instead by the new Health NZ entity and interim agency.
It follows a contentious past 18 months of negotiations between the district health boards (DHBs) and PSA staff representatives which were brought to a screeching halt.
A confidential eleventh-hour offer made by DHB negotiators was turned down by union representatives, who said it fell far from their expectations.
‘‘We have been working for 18 months to try and get a fair pay offer,’’ physiotherapist of 30 years Rachel Johnston said.
‘‘Our staff are becoming depleted. We are very worried about retention and recruitment issues in the hospital; we are losing health professionals overseas because they are being offered tens of thousands of dollars more; it is a big concern for the remaining staff within the DHB.’’
The allied health workers group is anticipating another strike in June if a new collective agreement is not reached with the Ministry of Health and DHBs, in line with the recommendations of an Employment Relations Authority report. ‘‘We would just like to be acknowledged,’’ Magee said.
A recent example of the stretched health system was Aroha Raynel facing a potential 17-hour wait at the Waikato Hospital emergency department. The 37-year-old arrived by ambulance with severe chest pains and, after waiting seven hours, she left.
‘‘I just couldn’t wait around for another 10 hours, I had to get back to my kids,’’ Raynel said. ‘‘I don’t blame staff at all though, there are just not enough of them.’’ Waikato DHB said emergency departments were busy due to high patient numbers coupled with the impact of Covid on staffing levels. Patients classified as having urgent or acute needs were seen first, the DHB said.
‘‘We are basically forced to carry out overtime just about on a daily basis . . . it is hard work, we are tired.’’
Rachelle Magee