Futher Industrial action by junior doctors

Junior doctors need to front up and be honest with hospitals and the public if they intend to take more industrial action.

The Lead Negotiator for the country’s 21 DHBs, Dr Nigel Murray – Interim CEO of Southland District Health Board, says the leaders from both teams will be meeting with a mediator tomorrow and he’ll be challenging junior doctors about public statements that they are considering further strike action.

“DHBs are meeting this evening to talk about ways of settling this dispute, junior doctors have been trying to intimidate DHBs and the public through the media with hints of further strike.

“What they seem to be forgetting is that once this action is over – we still need to sit down to talk and find a settlement,” says Dr Murray. “Maybe they should spend more time looking for answers rather than ways to make the problem worse.”

Dr Murray says further action seems totally out of step with the large numbers of RMOs who turned up to work over the strike. “About half of the RMOs at Auckland City Hospital reported for duty – over the rest of the country, the average was about 25%. That’s not what I would call overwhelming support for more action.”

“Further action would also be out of step with the majority of medical opinion which has urged junior doctors to use negotiation rather than strike to settle their differences. A second strike within a couple of weeks won’t give hospital services a chance to recover – it will just disrupt the treatment of thousands more patients – as well as further delaying the treatment of people affected by this strike.

“If people need any more proof of why we need a better way of working– this is it. Our proposal is an attempt to break this cycle of confrontation – the junior doctors’ last proposal on Thursday was a disguised version of what we have now.

“Junior doctors have to realise they are one part of a bigger team and they have no right to dictate terms and conditions that will impact on senior doctors, nurses and other health professionals. The sooner they accept that, the sooner we can settle this.”

Ends

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