KEY POINTS:
The prospect of senior hospital doctors walking off the job has come another step closer with the failure of the latest round of pay talks with district health boards.
The doctors' union, the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, met DHB representatives again last week in an attempt to resolve the 16-month impasse in contract negotiations.
ASMS executive director Ian Powell says a new pay offer was made but it was only "a slight improvement" on a previous offer rejected by doctors, and was still not enough.
The specialists are seeking a two-year term, with a salary increase that would average out at 5 per cent a year. They also want an increased rate of compensation for working on-call, and greater reimbursement of continuing medical education expenses.
They have already turned down an offer, spread over four years, that the DHBs said would amount to $45,000 for a "typical senior doctor".
The DHBs' lead negotiator, Nigel Murray, said at the time it would see a typical senior doctor's total earnings move from $190,500 to $235,860 - a figure doctors described as over-exaggerated.
Mr Powell said the union was dealing with a "substantially new" DHB negotiating team in the latest talks.
"There was no acrimony, no misbehaviour, no conflict to speak of, and no progress," he said.
"We still remain significantly apart on key fiscal issues."
Mr Powell said the DHBs completely underestimated the need to respond to the medical workforce crisis in this country.
The rate at which New Zealand is losing highly skilled and specialised doctors overseas has been at the core of the talks, with the union emphasising the need for DHBs to offer pay packages which would attract specialists in a competitive international market.
The health boards have accused the union of "talking up" the number of doctors moving offshore.
No further talks are scheduled, with the issue going to the top of the agenda at the specialists' annual conference in Wellington on Thursday and Friday.
At a series of stopwork meetings the union held nationwide in June and July, an "overwhelming" mandate was given to hold a ballot on industrial action should the impasse continue.
Conference delegates will determine if the ballot should now be held.
- NZPA
