Contingency plans are in place at Bay of Plenty hospitals to help minimise disruption for patients during this week’s Public Services Association (PSA) union strike.

The PSA has issued a strike notice on behalf of its members for a 24-hour strike starting on Friday 4 March. The nature of the strike is a total withdrawal of labour. It will commence at 0600 on Friday 4 March and will end at 0600 on Saturday 5 March.

Public Services Association (PSA) members nationwide, including more than 400 Bay of Plenty District Health Board (BOPDHB) workers, will be taking part. The action relates to those staff employed under the Allied, Public Health and Technical MECA (multi-employer collective agreement) only.

“The BOPDHB is involved in contingency planning to mitigate the impact of this industrial action and has finalised the Life Preserving Services (i.e. those services which are defined as providing care for the preservation of life and the prevention of disability),” said BOPDHB Executive Director Allied Health, Scientific and Technical and Contingency Planner Sarah Mitchell.

“Ensuring the safety of our patients and staff is paramount throughout this period of industrial action and all affected services have contingency plans in place for it.

“The BOPDHB accepts the right of individuals and organisations to take industrial action, however we do regret any inconvenience which may be caused to the people we serve,” she added.

What does this mean for patients and the public?

• The LPS (Life Preserving Services) agreement ensures the BOPDHB’s emergency theatres will be operating throughout the period of the industrial action.
• There will be no planned care in the BOPDHB’s theatres for this 24-hour period.
• Any non-medical outpatient appointments planned for this period will also be rescheduled.
• Affected patients are in the process of being notified or have already been notified.
• Toi Te Ora Public Health Service is required to have a 24-hour, 7-day a week on-call service for notification of reportable communicable diseases and for the management of border issues related to the Port of Tauranga. An on-call service remains in place during the period of the strike.

Which services are affected?

Around 20 services are affected and include: Occupational Therapy, Social Work, Dietetics, Audiology, Pharmacy, Addiction Services, Speech and Language Therapy, Newborn Hearing Screening, Vision Hearing, Podiatry, Cardiology services, Clinical Engineering, Toi Te Ora Public Health, Dental Services, Community Care Co-ordination and Support Net, Anaesthetic Technicians and Sterile Services Technicians, Mental Health, Te Pare Toi – Te Pou Kōkiri staff, Counselling Services, Community Health and Medical Day Stay.

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