Radiographers to resume DHB talks

Radiographers around New Zealand have withdrawn notices of industrial action after agreeing to resume negotiations with District Health Boards (DHBs) later this month.

Employees at each DHB had taken varying degrees of action since late February, from working to rule through to strikes -- including a three-day walk-off which halted some elective surgeries at Auckland Hospital in late March.

The radiographers' union Apex (the Association of Professionals and Executive Employees) is seeking a pay rise of 3 per cent in a new collective agreement, which it says would reflect the 3.2 per cent rise in funding which DHBs had received.

Taranaki DHB offered the increase in June last year, but talks across 20 other DHBs failed to reach an agreement.

Hawke's Bay DHB chief operating officer Warrick Frater today thanked the community and staff for their cooperation as industrial action had reduced services over the past 38 days.

He hoped the DHB could begin clearing its backlog of patients but urged people to visit their GP for minor issues to avoid overloading the hospital's emergency department.

- NZPA