The New Zealand Aged Care Association welcomes Andrew Little's pay parity announcement this morning, according to Chief Executive Simon Wallace.
The Health Minister says around 20,000 community health workers will get a pay rise as a result of a new package intended to address pay parity in the sector.
“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 is offering," he said.
"I know this has made it very hard for them to retain nurses.”
Forty million dollars will be made available in the remainder of this financial year, with $200 million a year after that, according to the Government.
But Little added that there would not be changes "immediately for those working in GP practices," though it could change in the future if "evidence of disparity emerges".
Speaking to Breakfast this morning, Wallace said he's pleased nurses who choose to work in aged care will no longer be penalised for doing so.
Workers will now be paid at parity with their counterparts who work in public hospitals, something that should have happened a long time ago, Wallace says.
Health Minister Andrew Little told Breakfast it had been a long time coming. (Source: Breakfast)
"This is going to make a real, real difference and this is a day to celebrate for all the hard working nurses in the 650 care homes across the country."
"It will make a difference for 40,000 older New Zealanders who are under specialist care of our nurses on the frontline, it's great news."
Wallace says the announcement is also about healthcare workers and aged-care being valued and recognised as a "mainstream" part of the health system.
"We're there to look after a very important part of the population, 40,000 older New Zealanders with acute health conditions and what we do and what our nurses do stops our public hospitals from overflowing."
He said the extra funding will certainly help to retain nurses in the healthcare sector at a time where staff shortages are rife. Wallace says at the moment, they're 1200 nurses down.
"It's put enormous pressure on the sector over the last three years through Covid, it's put enormous pressure on the sector and we're a specialist-led sector with nurses at the frontline and it's going to make a real difference to them, not only in their back pockets but for all our care homes across the country and the people they look after."
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