We promote, protect and support the interests of our members in all aspects of their working lives. We are working for an equitable, accessible public health care system that meets the needs of all New Zealanders.
ASMS supports an open letter written on behalf of doctors who want to present a united and evidence-based voice to the people of Aotearoa New Zealand in support of vaccination against Covid-19 for all eligible New Zealanders. For more information and details on how to sign up and take part, see below.
The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists Toi Mata Hauora is calling on the Government to urgently address residency difficulties for doctors and other desperately needed health workers. Immigration lawyer Kamil Lakshman told RNZ today that the Work to Residence visa process for doctors and nurses should be fast-tracked, particularly given the Covid pandemic. There has been a long pause in processing expressions of interest from skilled migrants for residency visas, with no indication of when processing will resume. ASMS Executive …
Kia kaha koutou! A big thank you to all ASMS members for being part of the frontline response to the latest Covid-19 outbreak. We are conscious of the pressures the outbreak places on you and your whānau. We want you to work safely. Our staff are working from home and ready to support members with any concerns or questions they may have. Below is some guidance and advice which you might find helpful.
The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists Toi Mata Hauora is calling for families and whānau of medical staff to be fast-tracked for Covid vaccination. ASMS members and their families have expressed concern for some time that family members of frontline clinical staff have not been prioritised for vaccination in the same way border worker families have. ASMS Executive Director Sarah Dalton says the outbreak of the highly contagious Delta variant means families will be feeling even more vulnerable. The Ministry …
One of our members has written a letter to the Health Minister Andrew Little, outlining their personal frustrations over workload, health workforce shortages and the position taken by DHBs and the Government in the MECA negotiations. We have anonymised it but it is a clear example of how our hospital doctors are feeling.
30-thousand nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants from the Nurses Organisation along with 1500 midwives from the MERAS union are planning strike action on Thursday 19 August, after they failed to reach agreements over pay and conditions with district health boards. ASMS fully supports the industrial action but recognises it will have an impact on our members. We have put together some guidance on issues which might arise for you as a result of the strike.
The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists Toi Mata Hauora says what would make a real difference to patient care in New Zealand is key indicators on safe and sufficient staffing levels. The Health Minister Andrew Little has announced that national health targets are to be abolished and replaced by 12 indicators, based on the Government’s six priorities for health, to identify whether work is being met. ASMS agrees that health targets have never been a reliable assessment of how well …
We are asking all members to attend stopwork meetings following very little progress in the ASMS-DHB MECA negotiations. We have had ten days of talks and the negotiations have stalled, with no acceptable offer on the table. The stopworks are an important opportunity for members to hear more details about the negotiations and feedback to the negotiating team. Stopwork meetings will be held in each DHB between August 2-14. In some larger DHBs there will be more than one meeting …
Senior hospital doctors and dentists who are members of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists will hold a series of stopwork meetings next month to discuss their stalled employment contract negotiations. Stopworks will be held at every DHB starting on August 2. ASMS has been in talks with DHBs since February to negotiate a new multi-employer collective agreement or MECA, but the DHBs have failed to put an acceptable offer on the table. “We are asking for a very modest …
The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists Toi Mata Hauora says patients and staff will be disappointed that an inquiry into progress on planned new mental health facilities has been knocked off the political agenda. Government MPs on Parliament’s health select committee have blocked a National Party proposal for an inquiry into the delay in providing 15 new mental health inpatient facilities which would aim to accelerate progress and assess design standards. In its recent report, What Price Mental Health? …