30 Aug 2018

Doctors' unions face off over new rosters

From Morning Report, 7:10 am on 30 August 2018

A rebel doctors' union says new hospital rosters that thousands of junior doctors went on strike for have wrecked their training and may be unsafe for patients. So-called safer working hours have been rolled out at public hospitals over the past year, following strike action and a pay deal between district health boards and the junior doctors' union. But trainee surgeons say it's restricting vital training opportunities, has led to a shortage of 200-300 doctors and could be putting patients at risk on wards. That's all roundly rejected by the main junior doctors' union, the Resident Doctors Association. RNZ health correspondent Karen Brown joins Susie Ferguson with the details.