KEY POINTS:
Planes and helicopters could be used to transport patients needing x-rays to Auckland or Waikato when a 10-day radiographers strike starts at Tauranga Hospital on Friday.
The industrial action threatens to bring Tauranga Hospital to its knees, prompting a hospital chief to warn people not to undertake risky activities during the strike period.
The Bay health board's 35 radiographers at Tauranga Hospital and six at Whakatane have announced their intention to walk off the job for 10 days from Friday - five days longer than initially planned and the longest hospitals have had to endure. The strike will affect x-ray, ultrasound and scanner departments and will include two weekends.
Andrew Keenan, heading the Bay of Plenty District Health Board's emergency planning team, said the strike would cause an unprecedented level of disruption.
It would be the fourth time radiographers had taken industrial action this year, with previous strikes lasting up to three days.
"At the end of the last strike we were just coping. We managed to hold patients until the end of the strike but - because of the length of time - we won't be able to do that this time," he said.
The private sector had limited capacity to provide the x-rays needed.
"We will have to look at postponing some elective services and that's going to have a big impact on people waiting for surgery.
"We're only going to be able to provide life-preserving services. Unless there is an imminent threat to life, you're not going to get an x-ray and 80 per cent of people who come into the hospital require an x-ray.
"This time there's a real risk to the public. All we can do is urge the public not to embark on any risky activities at that time."
The radiographers want parity in pay and conditions with most of their colleagues in the rest of New Zealand. The Association of Professional and Executive Employees (Apex), the radiographers' union, has been in negotiations for the past six months.
The Bay board is one of seven yet to pay its radiographers more - most of the 15 other boards across New Zealand are already paying the new rates, including Waikato. Health boards said doing so in one year was unaffordable and could be funded only by reducing services or paying other workers less.
Tauranga Hospital radiographer David Goldsworthy said he felt compelled to go on strike and "we're very, very disappointed that we have had to resort to this ... we don't want to go down this road".
THE DISPUTE
What they're asking for:
* According to the union representing radiographers, the current salary range for medical radiation technologists (MRTs) in the dispute is $33,371 to $43,791. At the discretion of the DHBs, they can move to a maximum of $54,907. This range includes positions such as department heads.
* The comparable salary range that the union wants is $37,188 to $49,875 with the DHBs' discretionary maximum extended to $71,000, the same as the majority of their colleagues elsewhere in the country. (The figures provided by Apex are for a 35-hour week).
What's on offer:
* DHBs say the majority of radiographers in negotiations earn between $38,130 and $51,380. The DHBs say they have offered to raise that to $42,377 and $56,960 by raising the starting rate for newly trained MRTs and by creating a new and higher top rate, lifting it from about $50,000 per annum to $57,000 - an increase of more than 8 per cent, which matches the existing rates in other areas. The DHBs say the offer also provides two additional merit steps to $58,744. (The figures provided by the DHBs are for a 40-hour week)
* The two sides are back in mediation tomorrow.
- BAY OF PLENTY TIMES
