Media release

Hutt Valley senior doctors hold Government to account for health system crisis

Hutt Valley senior doctors today condemned the Government for its failure to intervene in the crisis facing New Zealand’s health system.

And in a further step, they said the Government had to be held to account for its failure.

Association of Salaried Medical Specialists executive director Ian Powell says the strong message had the overwhelming support of hospital specialists at the meeting with no-one dissenting.

“The full resolution is that this meeting condemn the failure of the government to recognise and intervene in the crisis facing the health workforce in district health boards. Further, we hold the government accountable.”

The meeting was the sixth in a series of stopwork meetings held by senior doctors who have reached an impasse with District Health Boards over negotiations for a new employment contract. It is the first time ever that senior doctors have held stopwork meetings, but was felt necessary in the face of New Zealand’s serious crisis with recruiting and retaining senior doctors.

Ian Powell says the meeting also voted without dissent to join their Tauranga counterparts in condemning and having no confidence in the District Health Boards’ industrial relations strategy for the health workforce.

The Hutt Valley meeting, attended by the majority of senior doctors available to attend, rejected the DHBs current offer without dissention.

As with all six meetings to date Hutt Valley specialists also gave overwhelming support to holding a vote of members on whether to take lawful industrial action.

The next stopwork meeting takes place tomorrow afternoon in Counties Manukau.

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