KEY POINTS:
Senior doctors are not ruling out strike action when they begin an unprecedented national round of two-hour stopwork meetings next month over their pay dispute.
The doctors have been negotiating their collective agreement for more than a year, and want a substantial pay increase.
Association of Salaried Medical Specialists executive director Ian Powell, said the stop work meetings will start at North Shore Hospital on July 17 and continue in 25 hospitals over the following four weeks.
He said the meetings would report back to members on the state of negotiations, and to discuss other kinds of industrial action if an agreement cannot be made.
Mr Powell said it was premature to discuss strike action, but the feeling among some senior doctors was it may be appropriate.
He said emergency care would still be provided while the meetings were underway but routine work would cease.
"After 14 days of negotiation last year and six in mediation so far this year, the impasse remains.
"Senior doctors have simply been pushed too far and treated with disdain for too long by the DHBs' negotiating team."
Mr Powell said Australia was aggressively recruiting senior New Zealand doctors with salaries increased due to that country's own doctor shortages.
"A first year specialist in New South Wales will receive over $A29,000 ($NZ32,828) per year more than a first year specialist in New Zealand and after seven years the gap increases to over $A50,000."
- NZPA
