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Thousands of frontline community health workers –
including nurses in aged-care facilities – are in for a pay
rise as the Labour Government takes action on pay parity in
the health sector.
“I’m pleased to announce that
Cabinet has agreed to on-going funding of $200 million a
year so that thousands of workers in places such as
aged-care facilities, hospices and Māori and Pacific
health-care organisations can be paid more, Andrew Little
said.
“The Government is committed to ensuring
health workers are paid fairly and receive parity with
others doing the same or similar work, especially given the
current cost of living pressures workers and their families
are under.
“Today’s announcement is good news for
the estimated 20,000 people who will get a pay rise, and for
the organisations employing them, which have struggled to
keep staff when they can’t afford to pay as much as Te
Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand is offering. I know this
has made it very hard for them to retain
nurses.”
Andrew Little said the pay difference
between nurses and healthcare workers in public hospitals,
and many of those in what is called the funded sector
(private and non-Government organisations that get
Government funding to provide healthcare), was the result of
the Government’s earlier actions to lift the pay of a
traditionally female workforce.
“I am pleased that
on our watch, this year 10,000 public hospital
administration and clerical workers got an historic pay
equity deal that saw some with pay rises of as much as 40
per cent,” Andrew Little said.
“We are also
negotiating pay-equity agreements with midwives, allied
health workers and homecare and support workers, and have
boosted the pay of nurses working for Te Whatu Ora by an
average 20 per cent and have put aside $540 million a year
for a pay equity settlement for them.
“It’s the
right thing to do, and now it’s time to start addressing
the pay rates of those health workers who don’t work for
Te Whatu Ora.”
The funding will get to the private
and non-Government employers through changes to their
contracts with Te Whatu Ora and with Te Aka Whai Ora – the
Māori Health Authority. The Government will require the
employers to use the money to fix the pay difference between
them and public hospitals. Forty million dollars will be
made available in the remainder of this financial year, with
$200 million a year after that.
“Aged-care
facilities, hospices, homecare support and Māori and
Pacific healthcare organisations will be first, because
there is clear evidence that that is where the biggest pay
gap is,” Andrew Little said.
“I expect these
contract changes will happen in the first part of next year,
follow by mental health and addiction facilities,
organisations caring for the disabled and other types of
residential care, and then other Government-funded health
services.
“However, I have to be clear that this
package will not mean significant change immediately for
those working in GP practices. Decisions about what is paid
to whom have to be based on hard evidence, and the data
provided to me by both the Nurses Organisation and the GP
organisation GenPro for that sector did not show any real
evidence of pay difference at this point.
“The
funding is ongoing, though, and that decision could change
if evidence of disparity emerges in the
future.”
Andrew Little thanked the Aged Care
Association and the New Zealand Nurses Organisation for
their input in putting the package together.
“I have
worked with them to get to this point, and I am grateful for
their input,” Andrew Little
said.
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