Thousands of senior hospital doctors on 48-hour strike

Brian from Mount Roskill

6000 senior doctors and dentists on strike until midnight Wednesday
Health Minister says they're putting pay and politics ahead of patients
Health NZ says more than 1800 elective procedures, more than 3600 first specialist appointments, about 7000 follow-up appointments and more than 800 out-patient procedures postponed
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Some patients blame government for failing to invest in healthworkers
Six thousand senior hospital doctors and dentists are striking for 48 hours as the battlelines harden in their long-running pay dispute with Health NZ.
Their message to Health Minister Simeon Brown laid bare on placards on the picketline outside the Minister's Pakuranga electorate office in Auckland: "Code Brown, Simeon's in charge", reads one.
"We serve the interests of New Zealanders, Do you?", reads another.
In contrast to his predecessors - who tended to gratefully defer to Health NZ "as the employer" in contract negotiations - Health Minister Simeon Brown has taken a more hands-on approach.
He has openly criticised doctors who "chose" to strike, calling it "a decision by some of the most well-paid public servants in New Zealand to walk away from patients and cancel care", and voiced his disappointment over the union's refusal to enter binding arbitration.
Based on the previous 24-hour strike in May, Health NZ estimated about 13,000 patients would likely be affected by the two-day action by members of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists.
'He doesn't speak for me'
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Wellington cancer patient Charyl Robinson, who had her first date for surgery cancelled due to the nurses' strike at the end of July, said healthworkers had her "full support".
"My second date for surgery was also cancelled, because of a bed shortage, because I'm going to need a couple of days in HDU or ICU," she said. "I have been directly affected by the strain on health services."
While this week's doctors' strike would not affect her treatment directly, she worried that doctors were "not being valued and properly recognised here the way they would be overseas".
"I'm worried constantly that I could lose one of the incredible team of specialists looking after me, they could move for better conditions - that's what worries me. I get fed up with Simeon Brown trying to pit us patients against the people caring for us.
"I find it really quite despicable how he does that, because he doesn't speak for us. He doesn't speak for me, anyway."
Robinson, co-founder of the advocacy group Vape Free Kids, said she did "not buy the excuse" that the government was limited by the current dire financial circumstances.
"When I think about the money that's been set aside for tax breaks for tobacco companies... that stuff is incensing, when you are a person sitting there in hospital, seeing the shortfall in our health system.
"Sitting there in that hospital, my blood was boiling, when I consider the other things that have been prioritised in terms of funds over the very people that are delivering care for patients like me."
Plenty of "frivolous, down-right disingenuous spends" could be walked back to make some room for health workers' needs, she said.
Government 'taking advantage' of doctors' goodwill
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Another patient, who spent four days in North Shore Hospital last week, after an emergency admission, said the reality on the frontline was "the exact opposite" to what the minister claimed.
"The only reason the wheels haven't fallen off is because the government has taken advantage of the goodwill of all the medical professionals," said the 60-year-old, who did not want to be named.
"If I were to describe the staff, I would liken them to All Blacks, only far more skilful and with much greater levels of stamina, because their match isn't measured in minutes, but in 12-hour shifts, and with such high levels of overloading that only totally professional harmonic team work can keep the cogs turning."
From "the girls that mop the floors and clean the toilets" to specialists and administrators, everyone worked "at full-speed, all day".
Staff were obviously bearing the brunt of years of under-investment in facilities, when patients jammed the ED waiting room and clogging the hallways with stretcher beds, he said.
"After years of Labour's wasteful spending, this National government has decided the best medicine is austerity."
Meanwhile, the government appeared to have plenty to spend on some things, like top-of-the-line military helicopters, he said.
"I think it's absolutely ludicrous... Yes, you have to defend the country, but if there's no-one left alive in the country, what's the bloody point?"
Health NZ says it's out of options
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Meanwhile, Health NZ has taken the unprecedented step of applying to the Employment Relations Authority to make the final decision on terms and conditions, saying it has "exhausted" all bargaining options with the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists.
National clinical director Dr Richard Sullivan, who took part in last-ditch talks last week, said it was frustrating to put forward a new offer and receive "nothing to work with in response".
"We are disappointed this is necessary, but we have been in bargaining with ASMS for over a year. We have attended 11 days of formal bargaining, a number of informal meetings, mediation, six days of facilitated bargaining and accepted the invitation to binding arbitration, which the union refused.
"We believe all bargaining options have been exhausted and that the application for fixing is the best way forward to ensure certainty for New Zealanders."
Hospitals remained open during the strike, but to maintain patient safety, most clinics were closed and planned care appointments for surgery would be postponed.
"The strike will disrupt care for the entire week," he said. "It is estimated that over 1800 elective procedures, over 3600 first specialist appointments, around 7000 follow-up appointments and over 800 out-patient procedures will have to be postponed.
"Anyone who needs emergency care will still be able to receive it and patients who are already in hospital will continue to receive treatment.
"It is very important that our EDs are kept for emergencies only during the strike to protect our capacity to give urgent care to those who need it most."
An agreement was in place with the union to provide life-preserving services throughout the strike, which was due to finish at 11.59pm Wednesday.
The union maintained its members had yet to receive an offer that did not amount to "another pay cut in real terms", at a time when workforce shortages were at crisis levels in many places.
Executive director Sarah Dalton said Health NZ had "failed to turn up with any meaningful improvement on its offer".
"ASMS members are not walking away from patients, they simply know it is critical to have a pay offer that is competitive and continues to attract the medical workforce to New Zealand."
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