Thousands of junior doctors are walking off the job at all public hospitals except those in Canterbury. It's the fifth strike by the members of the Resident Doctors' Association and they will be on strike for five days.
One of their main complaints they don't want hospital chief executives to set their hours without consultation. The Employment Relations Authority is providing urgent independent facilitation in early May but not soon enough to stop this strike.
Dr Peter Bramley is the spokesperson for DHBs. "What we're wanting is at a local DHB level to have the flexibility to make roster changes that support better care... better training... At the moment it's a one size fits all approach and the union has the veto power," he tells Gyles Beckford.
We also heard from junior doctor Courtney Brown, who says: "The point of this fifth strike is to ensure we get a settlement at the end of that process.'
