From 7am Tuesday 23 August to 6.59am Saturday 29 October 2022, APEX members taking part in the action and:
- Will be taking breaks at scheduled times, and finishing and starting work at scheduled times
- Will not be volunteering for additional weekend lists.
APEX members taking part in the action will also undertake complete withdrawals of labour from:
- 9-10am Tuesday 23 August
- 2-3pm Wednesday 24 August
- 9-10am Thursday 25 August
- 9-10am, Tuesday 30 August
- 2-3pm, Wednesday 31 August
Our highest priority and focus is the ongoing safety and wellbeing of our patients, clients, and staff. Detailed contingency plans are in place across the Capital, Coast & Hutt Valley district to minimise the impact of the strike and ensure the ongoing safety of patients, clients and staff.
Like all districts experiencing strike action, we will experience staffing gaps and will need to prioritise essential and acute services over others. This means that some planned services and outpatient appointments will need to be rescheduled and affected patients notified accordingly.
All deferrals are made on a case-by-case basis by clinical teams and we are not able to provide numbers for procedures or appointments that may be deferred.
The Emergency Departments (EDs) at both Wellington Regional Hospital and Hutt Hospital will remain open during the strike. Anyone presenting to the Wellington ED will be assessed by a senior doctor on arrival – or a doctor or nurse at the Hutt ED – and be prioritised for treatment based on their assessed level of clinical need. People are asked to please remember to save ED for emergencies and call their GP or Healthline (0800 611 116) for advice in the first instance. Keeping EDs for emergencies will help ensure people are seen faster, and allow staff to provide the best care.
Someone assessed as not having an urgent need may be redirected to their GP or medical centre, an after-hours clinic, or asked to return the following day. If this does not happen, patients with non-urgent needs will wait significantly longer to see a as ED will prioritise patients with urgent needs. Please remember that anyone who does need emergency care should come to ED without delay – with only one support person – or, in an emergency, call 111.
