The union representing senior doctors is defending plans for industrial action, saying patient safety is already being sacrificed by a depleted health system.
More than 5000 members of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) are set to strike for 24 hours on May 1. It comes after several months of pay negotiations between the union and Te Whatu Ora hit the skids.
The ASMS union sought a 12% pay increase with the health agency, but was met with an offer of between 1 and 1.5%.
The union’s executive director Sarah Dalton said Te Whatu Ora has been unwilling to move from their offer, or comprehensively discuss the union’s claim.
Association of Salaried Medical Specialists union voted for its 5500 members to strike on May 1 in a move Health Minister Simeon Brown says is “failing patients”. (Source: 1News)
“We’re stuck,” she said.
The ASMS has about 6100 members in total, including about 5500 employed by Te Whatu Ora. The union’s members striked in September 2023 during previous pay talks, although this was for periods of two to four hours.
Dalton said that it would be the first 24-hour strike that ASMS members had undertaken.
When asked if patient safety would be compromised by the planned strike, she said this was already happening every day in the health system.
“Patients are a sacrificial lamb to our under-staffed health service every single day,” she said. “If Te Whatu Ora invested in the doctors and other health workers we needed, we wouldn’t be having to take this action.
“We are wildly short-staffed and the employer is not putting in proper retention and recruitment strategies in place to retain the doctors we need.”
The average senior doctor vacancy rate sat at 12%, although some hospitals had vacancy rates as high as 45%.
Dalton also challenged claims by Health Minister Simeon Brown that senior doctors were paid an average salary of $343,500.
“I’ve had a deluge of e-mails from our members saying if they earned that much money there would be no strike action,” she said.
“I’m not sure where he’s found the numbers that he’s citing.”
She said the average salary for senior doctors was closer to $240,000 a year.
Senior doctors at the top end of the salary scale in New Zealand were being paid less than their counterparts at the bottom end of the New South Wales scale, Dalton said.
“We are bleeding people to Australia,” she said.
The College of General Practitioners says the country is already way behind Australia in doctor numbers and it’s only going to get worse. (Source: 1News)
‘Bargaining chips’
Health Minister Simeon Brown accused the senior doctors union of using patients as “bargaining chips” as part of their negotiating tactics.
He called on the union to get back round the negotiating table.
He said the union was putting “politics ahead of patients” and the strike action will increase waitlists.
“They should deal with these issues around the negotiating table rather than delaying the care of thousands of New Zealanders which will only increase the waitlists. We can’t have people complaining about waitlists at the same time as causing waitlists to increase.”
Health Minister Simeon Brown opened the new ED unit this morning. (Source: 1News)
Brown said senior doctors were among the highest-paid civil servants, with an average total salary package of more than $340,000 a year, including various allowances and KiwiSaver.
The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists has disputed that figure.
“It’s a made-up number”, Dalton told the programme.
“I’ve had a deluge of emails from our members saying ‘I would love to earn the amount of money that the minister cites'”.
She believed the employer had taken a top-of-the-scale salary and added in other payments and additional duty fees. “It’s a pretty crude calculation.”
Health New Zealand ‘disappointed’
On Tuesday, Health New Zealand said it was “disappointed” and “very concerned” about the impact the planned strike would have on patients.
In a statement, the agency’s chief clinical officer Dr Richard Sullivan said if the planned strike went ahead it could cause the cancellation of around 4300 planned procedures or first specialist appointments, alongside the postponement of thousands of radiology procedures.
“We are disappointed that this planned strike action will impact on the work our teams are doing to bring down wait times for New Zealanders and will result in further delays for people who need care,” he said.
“We remain focused on reaching a settlement with ASMS and avoiding any disruption to patients and the wider health system.
“We believe that proposals presented in bargaining to date are fair given the current economic situation.”
Public hospitals and emergency departments would remain open and health professionals would still be available to ensure critical health services were in place, Sullivan said.
“We will work with ASMS to ensure the continued delivery of critical hospital services and to minimise the impact of the strike on other care services.
“To maintain patient safety, some clinics will be closed and planned care appointments will be postponed.
“All patients impacted by the strike will be contacted directly by hospital staff.”
Health New Zealand said any appointments deferred because of strike action would be rescheduled.
By Adam Burns and Morning Report of rnz.co.nz