Junior doctors planning a second round of strike action and district health boards have agreed to re-start negotiations tomorrow to try to settle the doctors' contract dispute.
More than 2000 junior doctors have given notice of another strike on May 7 after walking off the job for twodays last week in support of a pay rise of 10 per cent a year for the next three years.
The two parties met in Auckland today for contingency planning to ensure life preserving services would be in place for the May 7 strike, plans which were signed off this afternoon.
They did not hold any discussions over the substantive contracts issue, but agreement has been reached through a mediator to meet for further negotiations tomorrow afternoon.
"There are no new offers on the table, but there is an agreement to go back to negotiations, which is positive," Resident Doctors Association secretary Dr Deborah Powell told NZPA.
She said a couple of changes to contingency plans had been made for the coming strike but patients would not notice any difference.
Essentially emergency services would be intact but elective work suspended again for the time of the strike, Dr Powell said.
The junior doctors say they want a 30 per cent pay rise over the next three years but the DHBs say the demands cannot be met.
The doctors say a base rate of $23 an hour is way too low for the job they do, while DHBs say it equates to a very adequate average annual wage well in excess of $80,000.
