Several Thames health professionals were among those downing tools around New Zealand on May 1, as part of the “May Day” strike protesting against understaffing and low salaries for senior doctors and specialists.
Over 5500 senior doctors and specialists from the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists were involved in the 24-hour strike, in what the union’s executive director Sarah Dalton said was a “may-day call” for the public health system.
“The strike will result in planned procedures being postponed, but the same number of procedures are lost every week due to ongoing staff shortages,” she said in an April 28 statement.
“New Zealand will be short more than 3450 senior doctors by 2032 and we are already seeing the impact of doctor shortages across the country with longer wait times in emergency departments and for first specialists’ appointments.”
Critical services, such as “life-preserving medicine” and emergency departments, remained available during the strike.
