Starting tomorrow, more than 8,000 nurses working in aged care, hospices and other community providers will receive pay increases of up to 15 percent, bringing them closer to pay parity than their colleagues who work in hospitals.
But nurses who work in general practices are left out in the cold.
Laura Page, a nurse at Omanga Hospice, said it was “a privilege” to work there – helping people live their best lives to the end.
But this pay raise would finally make hospice nurses feel like they’re being taken care of, too, she said.
“It means we can provide for our families better, which means we can be better people and do our jobs better and take better care of our people.”
Her colleague Caroline Komene said hospices generally didn’t have the high turnover rate of aged care and some other organizations.
“What keeps her here? I think it’s more about the work than the pay – certainly for me.”
Still, pressure was mounting on the industry, and she hoped more nurses could do this important job if they were paid the same rates as hospital services.
Health Minister Ayesha Verrall, who was in Te Omanga in Lower Hutt today to mark the occasion, said the $200 million increase would raise most nurses’ base salaries to about 95 percent of their hospital colleagues’ salaries .
“One of the reasons the gap has arisen is that the government has done so much to increase the salary of hospital nurses through the 2021 pay agreement and the recent equity interim payment,” Verrall said.
The pay equality deal – which aimed to close the pay gap between nurses (mainly women) and similar male-dominated professions – has been challenged by unions, who believe that arrears should have been included.
Nurses employed by Te Whatu Ora have received interim payments pending a ruling from the Employment Relations Authority.
Verrall said this boost represented “a substantial step” toward pay equality between community nurses and their hospital colleagues.
It was also good news for community health services, she said.
“I know that in retirement homes, concerns about salaries have been the reason why some retirement homes have been difficult to keep open.
“So I see this as important not only in terms of recognizing those workers, but also for the sustainability of our health system and addressing some of the issues we have in discharging people from the hospital to the community.”
It has been a hard-fought battle, with many frontline nurses striking in October after more than a year of failed pay negotiations.
‘A real kick in the guts’
But for some, the battle is not over – Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku, the nurses’ organisation, said the difference between hospital pay and GP practice was around 10 to 15 per cent, while some Māori and Pasifika services were 25 to 30 per cent lower .
“It’s a real kick in the guts for the work they do. For many, this is the last straw and they want to go abroad.
“If we want to invest in the workforce we have to genuinely listen to what they want. And it’s not just about the equal pay, it’s about safe working conditions and having the resources so that when we go to work we can do it very good.”
Dr. Tim Malloy, chairman of the Association of General Practitioners, was baffled by the minister’s claim that the government had recently announced “a pathway for consideration of pay parity in general practice”.
The industry has been providing hard evidence for months, including the actual MECA agreements for the various nursing groups, he said.
“So we’re not sure what we should or have done to justify further delaying the implementation of pay equality for our nurses.
“Our main concern is that while we are delaying the process, we are still losing work force. “We are reaching a critical point where patients could be injured.
“And as a doctor, I find that unacceptable.”
Meanwhile, nurses working for Plunket, Family Planning, school nursing, mental health and addiction, rural hospitals and telehealth will have to wait until July 1 for their pay raises.
By Ruth Hill