Tauranga's senior doctors are joining their colleagues across the country in a two-hour strike effort for better working conditions.

The strike effort has come after failed negotations between Te Whatu Ora and the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists.

Cardiologist Dean Boddington says he has worked at Tauranga Hospital for 15 years, but is growing tired of "covering the cracks" when there is an extreme lack of staff.

Dean says he has noticed a gradual decline in the working conditions of his workplace, citing the population growth and a lack of junior staff as key reasons why.

"We do not have enough staff. Technically, you can only strike about salary, but that's not why we are here. Our employer, Te Whatu Ora, has systematically not employed enough people," says Dean.

"It's not just specialists. There's not enough nurses, junior doctors, and not enough of everybody.

"At the end of the day, the buck stops with [specialists]. If you're in hosptial and your life is at risk, it's the specialists who are going to have to treat you and sort you out.

"We rely on having our colleagues around us, but there's not enough of them. We supported nurses on their strike, but unfortunately its come to the point now where we need to strike as well."

Dean says he is the only electrical cardiologist at the Tauranga Hospital, and would "happily take a pay cut" to lessen some of his workload.

"We need more staff. I would happily take a salary cut to have another person who could split my load."

Dean adds Te Whatu Ora often "tells the public doctors earn so much" when in his view, the salary often quoted is only earned when you work "60 hours per week".

According to Dean, "more and more" junior staff are leaving the country for Australia, which makes "extra work" fall on senior doctors.

"Unless the salaries are fixed to create less of a gap between here and Australia, we're not going to be able to get those junior doctors back. This is our fear, that we'll keep losing them, and more work will fall on us again."

Dean shares this sentiment with psychiatrist Mark Lawrence, who says many junior doctors are leaving the country for Australia to earn both a better salary and work under better conditions.

Mark Lawrence, holding the 'toot for health' sign alongside his colleagues. Photo: Taylor Rice/SunLive.

Mark says he has been invested in the Tauranga area for about 26 years, and has been a senior doctor for 14 years.

"There's been a gradual decline for over a decade after poor investment in health," says Mark.

"We had a pay freeze for three years during Covid-19, which effectively means we've had a pay cut with the Consumer Price Index going up.

"When the negotating team did their best to negotiate with Te Whatu Ora, we asked for a minimum amount and what was thought of as a fair offer, but the offer they gave was too low."

Dean says the health workforce is tired, still recovering from the pandemic, and is wanting to feel heard.

"Unfortunately we don't feel valued by Te Whatu Ora or the negotiations. We are the senior heads and leads of the hospitals, and when we asked for fair conditions, it wasn't enough.

"We want to let the public know we are here and committed, but we need to be valued. I've seen so many of my friends, colleagues and junior staff leaving for Australia to get twice as much income with better working conditions.

"Money isn't the only thing which is important, but we need to be valued. Some of us have been in this community for decades or more. We have an investment in this place and want to stay, but we've had enough."

After today's strike action, negotiations between Te Whatu Ora and ASMS are set to resume on Wednesday, September 6.