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Hospital patients face being flown around the country for medical procedures next week when radiographers walk off the job.
Radiographers at seven district health boards - Southland, Otago, Canterbury, Hutt Valley, Lakes (Rotorua), Tairawhiti (Gisborne) and Bay of Plenty - plan to take industrial action ranging from full strikes to overnight bans starting on Monday and stretching into early May.
Services such as x-rays, CT and MRI scans, and ultrasound will be unavailable.
The DHBs' national co-ordinator of contingency planning, Anne Aitcheson, said some patient appointments would be deferred but some surgery could go ahead.
