Health Minister Simeon Brown.
Photo: RNZ / Reece Baker
Senior doctors are accusing the Health Minister of “illegal interference” in their bargaining process with Health NZ and have rejected his request for binding arbitration.
Simeon Brown had given the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists until 4pm on Friday to respond to his request to allow a third party to settle the dispute, saying he had “little confidence” the parties could resolve their differences alone.
Union head Sarah Dalton told Checkpoint they had already been through a facilitated bargaining process with the Employment Relations Authority and they did not find it neutral or helpful.
“We certainly are not interested in a binding arbitration process when the minister has already signalled he believes there will be no more money presented. Why would we take our members there when they have the right currently to accept or reject whatever settlement we reach.”
Dalton said the minister’s actions showed he did not understand employment law and had not received good advice about how the union’s bargaining process worked.
“If he has received advice it’s wildly at odds with the legal advice that we’ve received,” she said.
Dalton said when she had previously met with the minister if she “mentioned where bargaining was at, he’s been really clear that it’s got nothing to do with him”.
Given that it was “unusual and unhelpful” that he decided to intervene in this way, she said.
Something positive the minister could do would be to provide Health NZ with a bit more money to enable the organisation to make “an appropriate offer”, she said.
On average there were 12 percent staffing gaps for senior doctors and dentists around the country, and in some districts the gaps were as high as 40 percent, she said.
There did not seem to be a plan to address that, she said.
“Meanwhile, the real value of specialist doctor and dentist incomes has dropped by 8 percent since 2012 in relation to CPI [consumer price index].”
Currently there is no strike notice in place, but a ballot asking union members if they were prepared to take further strike action closed at 5pm with its results expected on Friday evening, Dalton said.
“As well as being misinformed, the Minister’s proposal is disingenuous. The fundamental barrier to a settlement between Health New Zealand and the senior doctors is the failure of his government to allocate adequate funds for the safe staffing of our public health system,” Dalton said in an earlier statement.
“The Minister’s actions are highly unusual and a direct intervention in bargaining, which is unlawful.”
Bargaining had not “broken down”, she said.
“Just last week ASMS met with Health New Zealand and the Public Service Commission to discuss next steps. The day before the Minister’s letter arrived [Health NZ chief executive] Dale Bramley spoke with ASMS to discuss further steps for bargaining.”
The union was calling on Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to give assurances the health minister would stop breaching employment law by undermining the collective bargaining process, she said.
“Every day theatres and clinics are cancelled due to staffing gaps.
“At the same time Health NZ has paid out more than $200M in the past 12 months on temporary staff (locums) and additional duties payments for existing staff to cover the work of missing colleagues.
“It makes no sense to pay ever increasing locum rates while clamping down on improved terms and conditions that will attract and retain desperately needed specialist doctors and dentists – especially in smaller and rural hospitals.”
ASMS lodged a revised claim with Health New Zealand during facilitated bargaining with a view to reaching a compromise.
“We are happy to get back around the table with HNZ,” Dalton said.
“They tell us they have a shared commitment to see improved staffing levels around the country. We need to see evidence of that.”
ASMS represents 5500 senior hospital doctors and dentists.
Cancellations questioned
The union also accused Brown of spreading “misinformation about disruptions to patient care”.
“Tthe Minister claims more than 4000 surgeries, appointments and treatments were cancelled due to the May 1 strike,” Dalton said.
“An Official Information Act Request revealed this figure to be a quarter of that at 1037.”
The union’s further request about appointments was months overdue because Health NZ had been unable to locate the data.
“If that is the case, where is the Minister getting his advice about cancellations from?
“It screams of recent cover up attempts we saw by HNZ to withhold data from the New Zealand Nurses Organisation about safe-staffing.”
In response to the union’s claims of misinformation, a Health NZ spokesperson said the numbers requested and provided under the Official Information Act referred to operations and procedures cancelled due to the strike, not appointments.
Furthermore, the number of 1037 was procedures that had already been booked when the strike notice was given and had to be cancelled.
It did not take into account the number of patients who could have been treated on the day if the strike had not happened.
Arbitration refusal ‘disappointing’, minister says
In a letter to the union’s leader Sarah Dalton, released to RNZ by the Minister’s office, Brown said its decision was “disappointing”.
“I appreciate that arbitration is not without risk for Health New Zealand and ASMS, and this was something that I weighed carefully when asking that you both attend,” he wrote.
“Ultimately, I think that giving your members, New Zealanders, and the broader health system certainty and stability outweighs the risks for you both.”
Senior doctors played a critical role in the health system and they should be able to “get back to what it is they do best – serving their patients and working for better health outcomes for all New Zealanders”.
“I still believe that binding arbitration is the circuit breaker that is needed.
“However, I appreciate that ASMS has decided not to proceed with it. Given this, I am asking that you come back to the bargaining table with Health New Zealand and that you work together to find a way through this current impasse that does not involve strikes and impact on patients.”
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