KEY POINTS:
The strikes by junior doctors' union members have cost district health boards more than $2 million in extra staff payments.
The Resident Doctors' Association went on strike for 48 hours last month and 49 hours earlier this month in pursuit of higher pay. Each strike led to the deferral of elective surgery or outpatient appointments for around 8000 people.
The boards released figures last night showing that they paid around $2.6 million for senior doctors, locum doctors, and nurses during the strikes - but their spokesman David Meates said it would probably go higher "because there are some claims that will come in over the next few months".
It is understood the three Auckland boards spent around $100,000 on advertising to warn patients about the strikes.
More than $2 million of the extra staff payments went to senior doctors. The health boards had agreed to give them additional payments ranging between $250 and $500 an hour.
The association's general secretary, Deborah Powell, asserted the extra wages bill would be far more than $2.6 million because the health boards had an interest in minimising the appearance of this cost - claims that Mr Meates denied.
Dr Powell argues that agreeing to the association's claim for three pay rises of 10 per cent each over three years would be cheaper than the real costs of strikes and employing locums to cover vacant junior-doctor shifts. She said locums cost the boards nearly $100 million a year. But the DHBs say the locums figure is around $24 million. They have offered two pay rises of 4 per cent each over two years to the junior doctors.
The association is nearing the end of 21 meetings of members at hospitals around the country.
Mr Meates said the DHBs anticipated "being in some sort of discussions" with the association next week after the round of meetings concluded.
