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STONZ and MAS working together to support RMOs

STONZ, a union advocating for and run by resident medical officers (RMOs), and MAS, a member-owned insurance and investment provider founded by doctors, have agreed to work together to support RMOs throughout New Zealand. By working together, MAS can help STONZ members to get ahead financially and protect what’s most important. STONZ and MAS will collaborate to ensure postgraduate doctors receive the advice they need to get on track financially early in their careers. Support will also be...

July Update

As we reflect on a huge first half of the year I want to thank everyone for hanging in there as we head further into winter! We know that as the winter bugs escalate, and our shortages are exacerbated, you will no doubt be stretched. It's a time to remind your peers and colleagues to make sure they’re getting out and about and are doing something to help with their wellbeing over the next few months – until the sun shines again!  One of our main focuses coming up is making our prep...

Introducing our new team member: Therese

Kia ora koutou,  I’m Therese, and I’m the new RMO Coordinator here at STONZ. I started at STONZ in May of this year as a fresh university graduate from UC with a bachelor’s degree in health sciences, majoring in Public Health. I completed internships at Kidney Health New Zealand and the Cancer Society and had previous experience as a research assistant.  After I graduated from university, my family and I packed our bags to go on a month-long excursion around my home country and t...

Pre-negotiation Survey Results

A big thank you to the 652 members who took the time to share their valuable insights and experiences. Your input provides us with a clearer understanding of the challenges and priorities that our members have ahead of going into contract negotiations, starting in September. Your voice and your feedback are key to our preparations, and the data from the survey is immensely helpful.Our support team has been hard at work, analysing and theming the survey response to identify key themes and areas o...

Taking parental leave soon or planning for the future?

Following the 2023 negotiations survey there were a few comments made about parental leave and the request for more resources and a central place for RMOs to find information about parental leave.STONZ created a webpage dedicated to parental leave following the 2021 negotiations so encourage members to check these out.We have put together these resources to help answer some of the questions RMOs have when applying for Parental leave. Whether you’re going to be the main caregiver or just need a...

Oral and Maxillofacial Perceptions Study

Hi Everyone,We’re conducting a national, multi-disciplinary survey to look at the perceptions of the scope of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and similar specialties including Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Surgery, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Ophthalmology and Dental Surgery.It’s a short (only 8-9 minutes) online survey and you have the chance to receive a $50 Countdown voucher. (It’s actually quite a fun survey).All you need to do is:1.     &nbs...

June Update

It has been another busy few months for the STONZ team. Firstly, a big thank you again to those who completed the member negotiations survey, the team has been working through the over 200+ pages of your feedback; and the responses will be invaluable to assist and support our upcoming negotiations. Be sure to review the high-level summary of the main themes from the survey up on the STONZ blog now.In part due to the current pressures on the system and the increasing numbers of RMO & SMO vaca...

Beating the Burnout

I’m not well-traveled, to say the least. Until recently, It had been over 10 years since I’d stepped outside the country. COVID wasn’t to blame.The border lock-downs seemed like an eternity, but they didn’t last a decade… For once, getting an extended period of leave was easy. Three weeks off, I didn’t quite know how to spend it. My first thought was a quiet 'stay-cation', what with research projects on the go and the annual recruitment cycle looming. That seemed like the safe bet. I...

May Update

Firstly, a huge thank you to everyone that completed this year’s negotiation and remuneration survey we sent out recently. 652 of our members took the time to complete the survey, so thank you! We are now starting to review the responses and will be using your feedback to directly influence preparations for negotiations and what we ask for at the table. Thank you to those who also answered the remuneration questions in relation to ‘how RMOs are paid’. As we’ve discussed previously, we ar...

Outsourcing & Out-Listing

Thank you to all our members who responded to our survey earlier this year about the impact of the effect of care moving out of the public sector.  Your feedback is invaluable, enabling us to better understand what is happening across the motu and how this has impacted you and your training.They key takeaways from our membership which we will be sharing with key stakeholders are:Outsourcing is impacting training opportunities; Cases suitable for training are being outsourced with minimal op...

Unyoked x STONZ collaboration

As the modern sage Ferris Bueller wisely said "life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." ⁠These days he's more right than ever, especially for those working in our healthcare system.⁠Modern life and work rhythms have us hurrying here and busying there.Jumping from one emergency to the next (literally).It tricks us into thinking we HAVE to do it…at the expense of everything else (which let’s face it, is sometimes definitely true). ⁠He...

Negotiations Update

As you will be aware, STONZ is heading into contract negotiations again later this year. We last updated our contract in 2021 and whilst 2-years is a long time on paper, it certainly comes up quickly! So, once again to help with preparations STONZ is conducting another membership survey to gather information from members that will inform upcoming negotiations. The results of the survey will help us to better understand what you see as the big issues (and some of the smaller ones) and confirm pri...

Introducing the Team: Becky!

Kia Ora,I’m Becky and I started with the STONZ team in early 2021 in a fixed term role, brought on board initially to help provide the team with support with membership queries and ongoing projects with the lead up to 2021 negotiations. Luckily the team wanted to keep me on and I have just recently celebrated my 2 year anniversary!Prior to that I was still working in health, however not directly with RMOs so it has been exciting and challenging experience to learn more about how RMOs work and ...

Fellowship...

For those of you that don’t know my background I am one of the original members of STONZ and alongside Heath Lash many years ago we felt there needed to be a union that had RMOs at the centre of the decision making. We shifted our focus to one that focused on being collaborative and proactive (something that embodies what being a doctor is all about). The reason I make this comment is because this is what the essence of being on Fellowship is all about. It is not just a technical exercise of l...

February Update

Kia ora koutou, Hope everyone has been settling into their new roles and hospitals well. My department in Tauranga has welcomed 9 new RMOs (out of 14 total!). It has been a busy start to the year for many of us. We are approaching application time for some specialties, Good Luck! Also, make sure you are applying for expenses to be paid back around these as well. February has been a tumultuous month for Aotearoa. We have seen devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle to regions aro...

January Blog

Hello everyone.I hope that everyone had a lovely Christmas and New Year’s, and that you have been able to get some time off over the busy holiday period. I was able to go back to the UK for the first time in 4 years to see my family, and for some much-needed rest, which has definitely reminded me about the importance of taking the leave you are entitled to.We know this is a very busy time for everyone, including those moving around the country and starting new jobs and having many new experien...

Holiday Season FAQs & Support Team Hours; Got a question or need help over the holiday season?

Over the holiday season, the support team get lots of questions about public holidays and what RMOs are entitled to over this time. To help, we have created a FAQ document which we have shared on social media and is also available on the website, HERE.The STONZ support team office will be closing from midday on Friday the 23rd of December and across the following weeks will be closed on the public holidays.However, a member of the support team will be available on the non-statutory days (29,30,3...

How do you train for an Iron Man whilst also on ENT training? Christina shares her experience!

After watching a friend complete iron man in 2014 I decided my goal was to complete a half…I am not built for triathlon, and I do not have the concentration so I thought a half would be an achievable goal. I could swim ok, could run… (well plod), and had never been on a road bike. Over the years I tested the road bike, did a few triathlons and decided to make it my goal for 2022.I’m not going to lie - training around work was hard. A lot of sessions had to be forgone due to work commitment...

Mid-Term Negotiations Update: We are almost there…

We have almost completed our mid-term-negotiations and updating the collective agreement to remove ‘DHBs’ and transition the language and interpretation to be reflective of the new one employer model. There is not much substantial change to the collective, but we believe we have negotiated to ensure that RMOs are protected through the transition. In particular around the interpretation of ‘Districts’ and ensuring that RMOs cannot be asked at a whim to move from one hospital to another wi...

Introducing the Team: Linda was STONZ first employee and central to the development of the support team.

Hi, I’m Linda and the first one on board in the ‘STONZ office’ working from home in Wellington since January 2019, taking care of memberships and membership fees and various admin.  My previous employment was 10 years in the medical staff office at a hospital in Wisconsin, USA before moving back to New Zealand in 2009.  Since then, I have been part of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and NZAGS (New Zealand Association of General Surgeons).  Being part of the Suppor...

A message of thanks from the Te Whatu Ora team as part of the STONZ National Engagement Forum.

On behalf of the Te Whatu Ora Senior Leadership, we would like to acknowledge and thank you for your dedication and mahi over the last 12 months.  It has continued to be challenging with the impacts of COVID-19, winter and workforce pressures impacting across the motu.  The professionalism and commitment of the RMO workforce has not gone unnoticed, your dedication to patients and support of each other and your teams is greatly appreciated.Reflecting back, it is great to see that despit...

Meals Allowance Pilot 2023: Want the opportunity to bring your own lunch?

During the STONZ and DHB bargaining in December 2021, the ability for RMOs to be offered an allowance in lieu of a meal was discussed. This followed the survey of STONZ members earlier in 2021 which indicated approximately 50% of respondents would prefer to be paid an allowance rather than receive a meal subject to certain protections.It was therefore agreed that a 12-month pilot from January 2023 to January 2024 to trial a meal allowance in lieu of a meal would be an appropriate way of explorin...

December Update

Christmas chaos begins to rein again. I was one of the lucky ones last week, escaping for a week of annual leave to visit the newest member of our whanau. One of life's true treasures. En-route, the Air New Zealand safety video inspired me with a metaphor of the RMO world and what we do at STONZ. Tiaki is the Māori principle of being guardians of people, place and culture on which the safety video is based. Tiaki inspires and challenges us to understand that we didn't inherit a c...

New Graduate update

Recently there have been discussions around whether TIs/new PGY1s should be offered employment in December, rather than waiting until the start of the new RMO year in January 2023. This was posed as a way to assist with the current workforce challenges and to fill current vacancies this side of Christmas. Looking back at our time starting as new PGY1s, as the STONZ Executive team, we have advocated that the first few months of a RMOs career needs to be well supported and that RMOs should receive...

November Update

Kia ora tātou kātoa Thanks for taking the time to read our monthly update, although we are heading towards the end of the year – the work the STONZ team is doing is not slowing down. What have we been up to this month? As we all know the current workforce challenges are forefront of our minds with many specialties experiencing large vacancies both short-notice due to sickness and burnout, and permanent vacancies where districts have been unable to recruit new RMOs. It seems this summer we ar...