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Speaker 1: Right now if you've probably been keeping across these senior

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Speaker 1: doctors strike as well, because it's going to affect all

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Speaker 1: of us. There will be surgeries that are delayed, there

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Speaker 1: will be specialist appointments that are delayed. There's a couple

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Speaker 1: of things about the story that just don't add up.

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Speaker 1: Yesterday we spoke about the average salary for these unionized

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Speaker 1: senior doctors. So Simeon Brown says the total packages worth

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Speaker 1: three hundred and forty thousand. Excuse me. The union hit

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Speaker 1: back yesterday they said, no, that's a made up number.

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Speaker 1: They said, We've had people calling us, doctors calling us

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Speaker 1: saying I'd love to earn that much. But the point

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Speaker 1: is it's average, right, It's an average, so it's not

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Speaker 1: made up, and it's a total package including superannuation, overtime

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Speaker 1: and penalties. Now, for most kiwis when you apply for

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Speaker 1: a job, that's the number that you would work off,

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Speaker 1: isn't it. When somebody asks you how much do you

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Speaker 1: get paid in the year, Well, first of all, you

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Speaker 1: wouldn't tell them, But do you just say your base salary? No,

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Speaker 1: you would say your total package amount. Second bit is

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Speaker 1: around the actual staffing because this does not make sense me.

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Speaker 1: We hear from doctors they are so short staff, not

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Speaker 1: enough specialists, not enough doctors, etc. So short staff that

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Speaker 1: they're on their knees and the system's broken. But the

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Speaker 1: Ministry of Health says there are more senior doctors now

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Speaker 1: than when National came into office. And what's more, the

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Speaker 1: churn or the turnover has also come down. So are

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Speaker 1: the doctors saying the situation is now worse than when

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Speaker 1: National came in And if so, how short are we?

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Speaker 1: So either the Ministry is kind of making up numbers

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Speaker 1: or lying, or the system is bad and may be broken,

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Speaker 1: but still better than it was fifteen months ago. Which

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Speaker 1: is it? Then there's the pay Put your hands up,

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Speaker 1: dear listeners, put your hands up if you've scored a

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Speaker 1: twelve percent pay rise lately. No, I didn't think so,

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Speaker 1: not that I can see your hands, but I'm assuming

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Speaker 1: there'll be some dairy farmers probably got their hands up

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Speaker 1: in the milking sheds this morning. With your record payout,

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Speaker 1: nothing to scoff at. But what about your average worker? No,

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Speaker 1: so doctors w twelve percent? The ministry says one to

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Speaker 1: two percent. Again, this doesn't make sense if you're worried

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Speaker 1: about safe staffing levels, and this is not really about pay.

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Speaker 1: The chances of Health New Zealand hiring more doctors when

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Speaker 1: the wage bill is twelve percent higher seems less likely.

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Speaker 1: Is this counterproductive? Like I said yesterday, you want the

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Speaker 1: men and women who cut you open for surgery to

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Speaker 1: be well paid and rested, because well, they're cutting you

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Speaker 1: open for surgery, but they need to articulate just how

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Speaker 1: sick the patient is before we dial up the medicine.

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Speaker 1: For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live

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Speaker 1: to News Talk set Be from five am weekdays, or

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