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Radiographer at work - Source: ONE News -
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Auckland Hospital is bracing for its busiest time of the week as a total strike by radiographers leaves clinicians worried about patient welfare.
Operations have been cancelled and hospital staff are stretched, with the 55 radiographers out until Monday and a nationwide strike looming on Tuesday.
Patients waiting for urgent surgery delayed by the dispute say they're anxious.
Cardiac patient Ivy Iwingaro Rixson has already been waiting at the hospital for her triple by-pass operation for nine days.
"I thought maybe only two days or three days, but not this long," she told ONE News.
It costs the Auckland District Health Board $800-$900 every night a bed is full and many wards are close to full with people waiting.
That's because surgeons won't operate if there's no way to check the patient afterwards, and the machines used for the checks are idle as the operators and the board remain at an industrial standoff.
Auckland DHB's chief medical officer, Dr Margaret Wilsher, says their biggest concern is that the handful of non-union staff, who are working through the strike, will become exhausted.
"We do have support from the union for life-preserving services but for all the rest of the x-rays and scans that are required, we are dependent on our non-union staff."
Both sides have accepted a 2% pay rise over two years. The argument now is over when that is backdated to and whether radiographers will be paid time off for professional studies.
Patient Ivy Rixon says the government should have jumped in and done something about it.
"I mean look what they've done for the South Island - just jumped in just like that. Hello, there's health problems up here."
Some patients are being transferred to private hospitals during the strike, or even flown to Wellington for treatment.
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