The Bay of Plenty District Health Board wants to reassure patients that a contingency plan will be in place when junior-doctors go on strike next week.
Staff have been carefully making arrangements for the 48-hour strike that is set to commence at 7am on Tuesday, October 18, and run through until 7am on Thursday, October 20.
BOPDHB Medical Director Dr Hugh Lees says contingency planning has been underway since the NZ Resident Doctors' Union notified DHBs of the impending two-day strike last week.
The planning has been focused on how Tauranga and Whakatāne Hospitals will manage without striking junior doctors, reduce the impact on services for patients, and allow clinical staff to focus on patients in most need.
This will include rescheduling some elective surgery and outpatient department appointments, says Hugh.
'If anyone has surgery or an Outpatient Department appointment booked on 18 or 19 October, in either Tauranga or Whakatāne Hospital, they will be contacted by hospital staff to inform them of the status of their appointment or surgery.”
Hugh says if patients are unsure about their appointment or surgery to phone 0800 333 477 between 8am and 4.30pm, to check their details.
He also is reminding everyone that hospital emergency departments are for emergencies, and for all non-emergencies please visit your GPs or an afterhours clinics. Medical advice is also available from HealthLine 0800 611 116.
'People should ensure they are up-to-date with their prescriptions and other requirements, and if they get into difficulty, they should make their GP their first call.
'The Bay of Plenty District Health Board is very appreciative of the support and help from our senior doctors, other hospital staff and people working in health organisations across the Bay of Plenty.”
Bay doctors will be among more than 3000 junior doctors intending to strike next week and the industrial action follows unsuccessful negotiations with DHBs over working conditions.
All of New Zealand's 20 DHBs will be affected by the action, which will involve a complete withdrawal of labour by NZRDA members.
1 comment
Shameful.
Posted on 12-10-2016 13:54 | By morepork
That these doctors even need to take this action. The hours they are required to work is nothing short of exploitation and puts them and their patients at risk. Yes, their training has cost us a lot of money, but that is no reason to exploit them. There should be a contract guaranteeing reasonable hours and for a period of some years they must stay in NZ, so that some of the investment in them is recouped, but treating them as an expendable resource to be "used up" is ridiculous, not to mention immoral. I don't like strikes as a way to settle issues, but in this case they have little other option. It seems that DHBs don't value them as much as the rest of us do.
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