Heart patients at risk, says hospital head

By MARTIN JOHNSTON

Heart patients' lives may be put at risk by a health technicians' strike starting on October 21, a hospital chief says.

Thirty-six staff who help with heart and lung patients, including assessment and preparation for surgery, have given notice of a seven-day strike.

It will mostly affect patients at Green Lane Hospital and some at Auckland Hospital, and comes on top of industrial troubles involving doctors and nurses at many hospitals.

The Auckland District Health Board's chief operating officer, Marek Stepniak, said yesterday that he was waiting to hear if the technical workers' union, the Association of Professional and Executive Employees, would provide emergency cover during their strike.

If it refused, there was a risk of heart or lung patients dying, especially children needing emergency treatment. Some non-urgent heart procedures and outpatients' clinics would be cancelled, affecting 60 to 80 patients a day.

Union representative Deborah Powell accused Mr Stepniak of making a cynical attempt to win public sympathy by claiming patients might die.

"We issued notice on Friday afternoon. By Monday they had written to us effectively asking us to provide sufficient staff to nullify any industrial action."

The union had twice asked for a copy of the board's contingency plans for the strike - to assess the validity of its request - but had received no reply, Dr Powell said.

The board has offered a pay rise of nearly 2 per cent to these workers, whose starting rate was $28,062, and the union was seeking about 10 per cent. Mediation has been arranged.

Dr Powell also represents 1900 junior doctors who are seeking a national collective agreement with the 21 district health boards.

She said a series of members' meetings over the previous 10 days had voted to hold a strike ballot if the negotiations, which have taken more than three months, did not progress.

The talks had been "tense", with the employers trying to reduce conditions from the existing local agreements, but progress had been made this week.

Meanwhile, the Nurses Organisation returns to mediation today with five health boards in a bid to avoid strikes starting next week.

Further reading
Feature: Our sick hospitals