A planned 24-hour national strike by doctors has been called off, but senior medical staff at Wairarapa Hospital say serious issues with staffing remain unresolved.
The Association of Salaried Medical Staff [ASMS] has confirmed the strike planned for late October is not going ahead as negotiations with Te Whatu Ora continue.
Meanwhile, senior doctors at Wairarapa Hospital have spoken out about the impact of shortages of permanent staff, as some departments struggle to maintain service levels.
Dr Norman Gray, the clinical head of the ED at Wairarapa Hospital, said staffing issues are being felt widely.
“It’s not just senior doctors, it’s junior doctors and nurses as well. There’s a problem with retention,” he said.
“It’s not attractive for people to come to Wairarapa Hospital. There is a disconnect between what they [Te Whatu Ora] say and what they do.”
Gray said Te Whatu Ora does not appear to be actively doing anything to help people be recruited and retained.
Wairarapa is also less attractive to potential staff due to the lack of a rural retention allowance payment in the region, as well as the current salary levels, he said.
“I thought HNZ [Health NZ] would make the rural retention allowance equitable, but they haven’t.”
Hospital services affected by staffing shortages include acute orthopaedics, specialist radiology, and paediatrics, he said.
Kieran McCann, group director operations for Te Whatu Ora – Wairarapa, said the organisation recognises the pressure staff and services are under, which is reflected across New Zealand.
“We continue to support safe staffing and to work hard to find sustainable solutions during these challenging times, for example continuing to recruit more frontline staff.”
Clare French, a consultant general surgeon at Wairarapa Hospital, described morale as “determined but disheartened”.
“Senior medical officers are dedicated to the region and to each other, and I at least truly value my ability to be a resource to rural patients and to have a broad scope of practice here,” she said.
“Hiring is always difficult, though, especially with pay as it is for senior doctors and especially with how dependent NZ is on international medical graduates.”
French agreed it is a challenge to find and recruit people, citing pay as one factor.
“It’s very challenging to keep NZ trainees in New Zealand as well, for I think many of the same reasons.”
McCann acknowledged recruitment and retention is a challenge for Te Whatu Ora right across New Zealand and internationally.
“Te Whatu Ora in Wairarapa has been addressing vacancies by using locums. Many of the locums used are in long-term fixed-term roles within the district, meaning numbers of senior doctors within the district overall have remained relatively stable.”
McCann said building and maintaining a permanent and stable workforce is the preference across the health sector and is a top priority, with significant work underway in this space.
Regarding the rural retention allowance, he said a national employment collective agreement applies to all districts under Te Whatu Ora, which set salaries and allowances.
“Wairarapa use this as the employment contract for our senior medical staff. There is no provision for rural retention in the national collective employment agreement,” he said.
“We understand the pressure that our people, particularly our doctors, are under and we acknowledge and thank them for their continued efforts and mahi, and welcome any discussions or conversations they wish to have with us about this directly.”
The ASMS spokesperson said facilitated bargaining took place over three days last week, after a strike on October 2 was cancelled.
“While the parties continue to make progress in facilitated bargaining, ASMS has decided to suspend the proposed 24-hour strike action on Tuesday 24 October. Facilitated negotiations continue this week.”
– NZLDR
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