The chief medical officer for Counties Manukau says full safety will be maintained if strikes by senior hospital doctors and dentists go ahead next month.
The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists say 82 percent of affected members voted to strike over deadlocked pay negotiations, starting with a two hour stop work on September 5.
Dr Andrew Connolly says Middlemore Hospital is prepared.
“What would happen is the care would carry on as it does now so there’s a lot of work on that the employer and the unions have to do to maintain that safety so I can reassure the public safety is fully maintained. What really happens is the things that are completely non-urgent need to wait until the strike is over,” he says.
With emergencies or anything life threatening the union and the employers will have it covered.
