No end in sight to lab strikes, suspensions

IAIN MCGREGOR/The Press

NOT BACKING DOWN: Medical Laboratory Workers Union president Stewart Smith, left, and hospital laboratory workers outside Christchurch Hospital yesterday.

Relevant offers

Health

ACC levies may climb again Ageing population lifts death rate Repairs force disabled red-zoner to sleep outdoors Suing doctors a return to 'dark days', court told 5000 deaths after surgery each year - report Thousands die each year post surgery Swimming again after tumour removed PM backs plane flu scare response Whooping cough strikes baby Caring for these kids a job for life

Canterbury laboratory workers and management see "no end in sight" to rolling strikes and suspensions.

Canterbury medical laboratory workers have taken action since June over a pay dispute with district health boards.

Last month, Canterbury Health Laboratories started suspending workers, saying there was not enough work.

New Zealand Medical Laboratory Workers Union president Stewart Smith said there had been 26 suspensions.

Every day, two or three people were suspended in the morning and one on the evening shift.

He said Canterbury Health Laboratories was claiming there was not enough work because of the strikes.

However, Smith said none of the strike action affected tests for Christchurch Hospital, and it was the employer that decided to reduce its hospital workload by up to 70 per cent.

The decision meant patients were not getting test results for HIV, hepatitis C or gastrointestinal viruses.

That meant patients could be getting sicker and were not being treated.

"That's a great concern for us. We are standing idly by while these machines are not being utilised," he said.

Canterbury Health Laboratories general manager Trevor English said the strike action affected work flows through the laboratory, which in turn had an impact on hospital patients.

The laboratory had reduced its workload by 10 per cent so far, and 70 per cent was the target. "We have made the decision to reduce services to get them down as low as possible," he said.

"We need to make sure the workload is manageable ... because we don't necessarily have an end point anywhere in sight."

English said the laboratory was working with clinicians to ensure testing they "really need" was still being done, but turnaround times were slower. Hepatitis C and HIV tests were being done as required.

Smith said the suspensions were putting staff under huge financial and social pressure.

One woman had been suspended for two weeks. She had been the sole income earner for the family as her husband was recuperating from an operation, but he had to return to work early to make ends meet.

Smith said he had not seen any signs of health board movement regarding their pay offer, so strikes and suspensions were likely to continue.

Laboratory worker Nod Ghosh said she was concerned about the long-term impact on patients if laboratory workers were not properly paid.

She had worked in Britain, where many laboratories had closed down because of a lack of staff, and New Zealand had to be careful not to head down that track.

- © Fairfax NZ News