Plans are now in place for strike action to be taken by nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants who are members of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO).
The first strike will be at all DHBs around the country for 24 hours on July 5 for staff protesting low pay and long hours.
Manager at the Capital and Coast District Health Board Chris Lowry says an official notice about the strike has been received.
The board is now putting plans in place for the strike, with patient safety and well-being as their highest priority.
"However, like all DHBs, we will experience staffing gaps and will need to prioritise essential and acute services over others. We will also be assessing our inpatients to see whether it is clinically appropriate to discharge them. If not, they will remain in hospital."
Lowry says the emergency department at the Wellington Regional Hospital will remain open, “and people can rest assured that anyone who requires urgent and life-saving care will receive it."
However, people are reminded that the emergency department is for emergencies only, and patients with non-urgent injuries are advised to see their general practitioner.
Wellington Regional Hospital's delivery suite and maternity ward will remain open. Any patients booked for birth at Kenepuru Community Hospital or the Kapiti Health Centre, or are in labour on a strike day, are advised to contact their midwife early to travel to Wellington.
"Your lead maternity carer has been informed of what services are available, and we also have a number of midwives who are not NZNO members and will be working during the strike action," says Lowry.
The strike comes following a decision made based on a 30-day ballot that went out to 27,000 nurses in April. In response, DHBs recently offered more than half a billion dollars to settle pay negotiations with NZNO – but the offer was rejected this week.
Notice for a second 24-hour strike from 7am on 12 July is expected next week.