Senior doctors and dentists are striking today after mediation between Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand and the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists over the weekend failed to find a resolution.
About 5500 doctors and 100 dentists employed at public hospitals and other healthcare facilities around the country will stop work from noon to 2pm.
Association chief executive Sarah Dalton members want an inflation adjustment to their pay, after years of receiving zero or minimal increases.
She says Te Whatu Ora’s offer of between 7 and 12 percent over a 17 month period is well below the rate of inflation.
Members feel frustrated and angry.
“They don’t feel that Te Whatu Ora and the Government who funds health of course are really seeing what the huge issues are in health – primarily the massive workforce gaps that are getting worse, not better,” Ms Dalton says.
She says specialists who might have filled gaps here are being attracted elsewhere, with some states in Australia offering early career specialists double what they can earn here.
