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The parents of a baby girl are devastated after being told long-awaited surgery to help her to eat without a tube has been postponed because of hospital strikes.
Seventeen-month-old Rebecca Jones has cerebral palsy and was to have two surgical procedures this Thursday to ease constant pain and sickness, and help her take solid food.
Parents Cara Porter-Jones and Gary Jones had been preparing for the operation for months after being given the go-ahead in March, and have taken leave from work.
But Mrs Porter-Jones says that with just days to go, she received a phonecall saying her daughter's surgery had been cancelled because of strikes at Auckland City Hospital.
"I broke down in tears. I was devastated," she said.
"To put it nicely, I'm very, very, very angry. We've been preparing ourselves for this for weeks. Now that we were getting so close to it - naturally we're very scared - and to be told that it's been cancelled because people are fighting over money ..."
Now the family are in limbo, as they wait for another date to be set.
Rebecca has to take food through a tube inserted through her nose. One of the cancelled procedures would have opened a valve in her stomach that would enable her to eat solid foods.
The second procedure would treat a condition that causes Rebecca often to bring up about a tenth of her daily food, and give her better control of her intake.
Rebecca has several related problems, including chest infections and sickness.
Mrs Porter-Jones said she felt for other families who had been affected, as it meant more hardship for them.
Rebecca - who is the couple's only child - had been through a lot, she said, and knowing that surgery that would give her a better life was being blocked by money was upsetting.
"It's devastating. I got up [at 3.30am yesterday] because I heard my daughter coughing and crying," Mrs Porter-Jones said.
"I got up to check on her and found she had brought up secretions that pool in the back of her throat.
"I had to strip her pyjamas and change her bedding and clean her hair," Mrs Porter-Jones said.
"It's hard, but she's your daughter and you do these things because it's your child. I just want them [the strikers] to see that she needs this."
The family are among hundreds of people affected by the strikes.
Auckland City Hospital has cancelled all elective surgery as it struggles to cope.
About 500 people will be affected by the cancellations, which took effect yesterday and will continue until unions representing radiographers and hospital laboratory workers settle their national pay disputes with district health boards throughout the country.
Radiographers are expected to continue their industrial action until at least September 24, and laboratory workers could continue theirs until September 16.
Auckland DHB spokesman Mark Fenwick said contingency plans had been in effect at Auckland and Starship hospitals since the radiographers started their action.
"But the matter is now complicated by laboratory workers and radiographers both striking at the same time and upping their level of action to total withdrawal of labour on several days."
Mr Fenwick said there would be long delays at the hospital's emergency department and urged people to see their family doctor if possible.
The radiographers, who are represented by Apex - the Association of Professional and Executive Employees - are to go on strike for three days from Friday.
They will then again strike as part of nationwide action on September 7.
Counties Manukau chief medical officer Dr Don Mackie said the strike was "corrosive to morale", as others had to step in and do the work of striking staff.
He said the DHB had been subjected to low levels of industrial action for weeks.
This had included everything from staff not answering their phones to delayed care.
Dr Mackie said some of the actions had resulted in patients having to give more than one blood sample because staff had refused to run more tests on one sample.
"We've had to go back and take more blood off the patient. So that has meant more needles for kids. It has been difficult for technicians and patients."
Dr Mackie said the strike by radiographers had meant patients had been moved around the region.
Counties Manukau's general manager of medicine, Brad Healey, said other clinical staff were "fed up to the back teeth" with the strike.
Dealing with the action added to the health board's costs, he said, but the long-term costs of the pay rises being sought would be higher.
"As the strike keeps going, the risk gets greater of something going wrong," Mr Healey said.
Apex spokeswoman Robyn Slater said last week that the union and health boards had agreed on two pay increases of 1 per cent by October, but other issues were still on the table.
The nationwide strike would be cancelled if these issues were resolved.
Medical Laboratory Workers Union president Stewart Smith said the industrial action was not intended to affect patient services.
Reductions in services should be blamed on the decision by some district health boards to suspend workers for up to six days.
Laboratory workers have been offered two pay rises of 1 per cent over the next two years.
ON STRIKE
* Radiographers expected to continue their strike until September 24.
* Lab workers expected to continue their protest action until September 16.
* Radiographers' next strike due to start on Friday and continue for three days.
* The radiographers plan to strike again as part of nationwide action starting at 7am on September 7.
- additional reporting by NZPA
