Junior doctors ready for flight to Australia

CAMERON BURNELL/Taranaki Daily News

Junior doctor Kerryn van Rij treats Sheridan Farley (15) at Taranaki Base Hospital's children's ward. Sheridan's mother, Lisa Tamati, is supportive of the strike. "They deserve every penny they get," she says.

Relevant offers

Health

ACC beneficiary admits he cheated Cafe's stub-out stance a winner Doctor sceptical about boy's alternative cancer care Calls to stop the spread of fast food outlets Information withheld puts children 'at risk' Kiwi scientist urges halt to doomsday flu research City doctors earn less than country cousins Mounting cost of coping with mental illness Death linked with HIV stigma Auckland men unaware they have HIV: study

Taranaki junior doctor Kerryn van Rij is getting ready to move to Australia where she will earn at least five times more pay.

Dr van Rij is one of 50 junior doctors in Taranaki out on strike from 7am today until 7am on Thursday, effectively crippling the country's public hospitals.

"It's a no-brainer," the second-year paediatric house surgeon said.

The threatened strike by the Resident Doctors Association has hit after last week's negotiations with the 21 district health boards stalled.

The RDA has asked for 4.5 per cent increase each year for the next three years.

"We don't want to strike but we are passionate and very fired up about the future.

"We are very determined," Dr van Rij said.

The major issues are the low rates of pay compared with locums, the loss of junior doctors to the better-paid ranks of locums in New Zealand and overseas and, as a result, the loss of consultants in the future.

The situation is "ridiculous" that junior doctors on the permanent staff often find they are working alongside a locum doctor with the same amount of training, who is on four times more pay - and is treated like a god.

"In Taranaki a second-year locum working next to me, doing exactly the same job as me, gets $90 an hour."

Last year Dr van Rij and her husband Simon came to Taranaki to train as specialists, attracted by Taranaki Base Hospital's good training reputation.

They receive $23 an hour for an average 60-hour week and are servicing a $150,000 student debt between them.

"It's huge. It will take us 40 years to pay it back. It's like having a house loan. But ours is the minimum compared to what others have got."

All the Taranaki junior doctors are looking into moving to Australia where, as locums, they will be paid $120 an hour, she says.

"We all want to be locums.

"They are putting us in the situation where we want to leave the country."

But they are also aware that the white-coat flight will have serious impacts on future specialist numbers. It is the permanent junior doctors who are training to become the country's specialists.

TDHB operations manager Steve Berendsen said about 220 outpatients and about 20 surgery patients had been affected.

He said anyone with non-urgent health concerns should go to the GP or community accident and medical clinic.

"While there is severe disruption to normal services, we are confident that we have sufficient doctors available to maintain cover for all acute and emergency presentations."

Services were being covered by senior medical staff and some non-union junior doctors, assured Mr Berendsen.

- © Fairfax NZ News