Upset doctors email Cunliffe

South Island junior doctors have written to the Government about their frustrations, saying work pressures are pushing them close to breaking point.

A group of anonymous junior doctors from the South Island sent emails to Health Minister David Cunliffe during this week's 48-hour nationwide strike.

Junior doctors will again walk off the job on May 7 for 48 hours over the refusal of health boards to increase their salaries.

While about 8000 patients around the country had surgery or appointments cancelled during this week's strike, hospitals say they coped with the industrial action. There were no serious incidents.

One South Island-based doctor in the sixth year out of medical school wrote to Cunliffe saying they were at breaking point.

"I am constantly facing the dilemma of cutting corners in assessment due to the number of patients to see and the potential risk this poses to patient care," the registrar said.

"Three weeks ago I sat in a windowless box debating whether to throw my chair at the wall or cry in response to the ongoing pressure and frustration of having inadequate numbers of staff available.

"We have no doctors available to cover for leave in the next six months, meaning that taking any leave, either sick or annual, will seriously disadvantage your colleagues who are `expected' to cover for you."

The anonymous doctor said that while they and their colleagues did not want to strike, they did so because their issues were not being heard and industrial action signified how strongly members felt about it.

The doctor said that due to their frustration they were considering becoming locums to earn up to five times the salary of a hospital physician.

Another South Island junior doctor wrote to Cunliffe expressing fear that New Zealand's health system was becoming a Third World system as its best and brightest kept leaving.

This doctor, and others who wrote to the minister, said they were saddened by Cunliffe's attack on their union's lead negotiator, Deborah Powell, in Parliament, along with his comments about their salaries, comments they felt to be incorrect.

"I believe that as a member of Parliament you should be more professional than this. I suspect your comments alone have hardened the resolve of a number of RDA members (the junior doctors union) to go through with the strike," said one South Island medic.

A spokesman for Cunliffe said he could not confirm last night whether the minister had received the letters.

Cunliffe yesterday commended health board staff for their response during the junior doctor's strike, which enabled the country's hospitals to function with the least possible disruption.

"The way this inconvenience to other medical staff and our patients is being handled is inspiring," he said.

Cunliffe, who has said that he would not step into the long-running and bitter junior doctors' pay dispute, called on both sides to "take a long term constructive approach" and resolve the issue.

- © Fairfax NZ News