Hauora Tairāwhiti is preparing to reduce elective services provided at Gisborne Hospital for 24 hours from 6am on Friday 4 March to manage strike action by Allied and Technical staff.

Allied Health staff represented by PSA at Hauora Tairāwhiti include a wide-ranging number of staff from public health, physiotherapy, biomedical technicians, and sterilisation staff, among others.

Last Thursday the PSA union issued national strike notice to all DHBs that its members will strike for 24 hours in support of their wage claims.

Hauora Tairāwhiti chief executive Jim Green respects the right to take industrial action and the number one priority during the strike is the safety of people who need care.

“The strike means that people will have further delays in getting their procedures.

“We are planning on the side of safety but this will mean the delays people have already experienced through the effect of the lockdown period and now the effect of staff absences in the Omicron outbreak will be increased by this strike.

“We remain hopeful a return to talks can be agreed so that the strike notice is withdrawn at this time when services are already under considerable pressure.

People with surgery or procedures booked during this period will be contacted if there are any changes. If they are not contacted, they can expect their procedure to proceed as normal.

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