The government has asked the health authority to reinvestigate the pay gap for community nurses, who are leaving their employers in droves for better paying roles in public hospitals.
Funding of $40 million was put aside in November to increase pay for nurses and kaiāwhina who work in the funded sector, including in aged residential care, hospice, home and community support services, Pacific providers and Māori hauora partners. Lump sums began to be paid out this month.
However, nurses who work in primary care feel they are being treated unfairly.
Health Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall said she was told at the time there was no significant pay gap for this group, and so their wages were not increased.
But in a statement from her office, Verrall said she had asked Te Whatu Ora to re-investigate whether a gap existed.
The funding was “a significant investment to reduce pay gaps, but it will not result in the same pay or working conditions of Te Whatu Ora employed nurses. That is not its intention”, she said.
Goulter said paying different wages to nurses across the industry created distortions in the labour market, as nurses leave jobs at GPs and move into hospitals.
Credit: radionz.co.nz
