KEY POINTS:
Radiographers returned to work this morning at the end of a 10 day strike refusing to rule out further industrial action.
Around 260 radiographers from seven district health boards (DHBs) have been on strike since November 10.
Association of Profession and Executive Employees (Apex) Deborah Powell said no further strike action was planned but it remained a possibility.
Radiographers from Canterbury DHB walked off the job for nine days, from Tairawhiti (Gisborne) for five days and Bay of Plenty, Lakes (Rotorua), Hutt Valley, Otago and Southland for 10 days.
They want pay parity with about 1000 colleagues from the Waitemata, Auckland, Northland, Nelson-Marlborough, Waikato, Capital and Coast, Hawke's Bay, Wanganui and MidCentral health boards.
Anne Aitcheson, national co-ordinator of contingency planning for the DHBs, said she hoped the situation would be back to normal quickly at the 13 affected hospitals.
"All the surgery is booked and all the outpatient appointments are booked and we will be back to normal," she said.
However, it would take some weeks to get rid of the backlog of elective services.
During the strike radiographers only provided essential services. Hospitals sent some patients to private providers and delayed elective surgery and outpatient appointments.
The return of radiographers comes after DHBs this week settled a dispute with junior doctors. The doctors are to receive a 5.8 per cent pay rise, in an agreement estimated to cost DHBs $10 million over 18 months.
But services are likely to be disrupted again when more than 1200 medical laboratory workers go on strike for a week from November 29.
The labs involved are the New Zealand Blood Service (NZBS), DHBs nationwide, Tairawhiti in Gisborne, Wellington Pathology, Medlab South and Southern Community Laboratories.
DHBs and the NZBS have not moved from an offer to increase medical laboratory workers' salaries by 1.5 per cent for year one and 2.5 per cent in the second year for five months.
- NZPA
