Pay increase for health staff working outside hospitals

Health workers including nurses who work in aged care centres are among those who are set to get...
Health workers including nurses who work in aged care centres are among those who are set to get a pay increase. File photo: Getty Images
About 20,000 health staff who work outside of hospitals are set to get a pay rise to bring them in line with those who do, the government has announced.

But nurses in GP clinics, who have been striking for a similar deal, are not included.

The announcement early this morning covered health staff, including nurses, who did not work in hospitals or directly for Te Whatu Ora/Health NZ or the Māori Health Authority - but whose employers had contracts with the organisations.

That included aged care centres, hospices, mental health and addiction services, Māori and Pacific healthcare organisations, and residential care for disabled people.

Health Minister Andrew Little said many of those workplaces had been struggling to retain staff because they could not pay as much as Te Whatu Ora Health NZ.

The boost would also help workers with cost of living pressures, he said.

Nurses working in general practices had also been fighting for pay parity in a series of short strikes this year, saying they were paid between 10 or 20 percent less than their Te Whatu Ora counterparts.

But Little said there was not enough evidence to support that.

"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."

But the decision could change if evidence of a disparity emerged, he said.

The boost to pay rates will cost the government about $200 million a year.

The first workers to get a pay rise would receive it from early next year, with the rest rolled out over the following months.

The boost in funding will go directly to the organisations which hold the contracts but they will be obliged to use it to pay the staff.