Strike Update 8 Feb 2019

NZRDA members will again be withdrawing their labour for 48 hours from 8am Tuesday 12 February to 8am Thursday 14 February. This notice affects all DHBs in New Zealand.

NZRDA members will again be withdrawing their labour for 48 hours from 8am Tuesday 12 February to 8am Thursday 14 February. This notice affects all DHBs in New Zealand.

As you will be aware the BOPDHB has been engaged in contingency planning to reduce the effects of the strike action. As we do not have the option of moving patients to nearby hospitals, and while doing our utmost to ensure patient safety, unfortunately we need to once again defer surgical lists and outpatients’ clinics.

As a result of these actions you will be seeing the impact of our contingency planning on your patients. If patients contact you voicing their concerns about having had their appointments or operations deferred, can you please reassure them that the DHB is working to make new appointments for them.

If you have reassessed a patient and feel the urgency for an appointment with us has changed in any way, please re-refer your patient as you would normally do so.

Please also be aware that the BOPDHB’s midwives will be taking strike action for 12 hours from 9am to 9pm on Tuesday 12 February. Please assure your pregnant mothers that no women requiring maternity services will be turned away. Women are asked to contact their care provider, either their LMC or Tauranga or Whakatāne hospital maternity units, if care is required. 

We would be grateful if you could share this information with your colleagues as appropriate. It’s important that throughout this period of industrial action, our patients remain well informed and reassured that their appointments are being rescheduled as a matter of priority.

Services which remain open:

• Emergency Departments
• Assessment Planning Unit, APU (Tauranga)
• Intensive Care Unit/CCU/HDU (Tauranga), Acute Care Unit (Whakatāne)
• All Wards (Tauranga and Whakatāne)
• Maternity Units (Tauranga and Whakatāne)
• Special Care Baby Units (Tauranga and Whakatāne)
• Mental Health and Addiction Inpatients' Wards
• Public Health Services (Toi Te Ora)
• Renal Dialysis Unit (Tauranga)
• Clinical Physiology
• Outpatients Rehabilitation (Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Podiatry etc.)
• Acute endoscopies
• Imaging Departments.
  
  

During the strike action can you please refer only patients that clearly demand immediate hospital intervention or treatment.

We appreciate your co-operation through this difficult period.

Neil McKelvie – Contingency Planning Lead : NZRDA Strike Action
And BUSINESS LEADER, ED, MEDICINE, HIA & PHARMACY
Phone 07 579 8803 (ext 8803) | 829 Cameron Road, Tauranga 3112