The New Zealand Nurses Organisation Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa (NZNO) has welcomed this morning’s Government announcement to address pay disparities in the nursing and kaiāwhina workforces from 1 April.

NZNO Chief Executive Paul Goulter said the $200m a year initiative that will be spent addressing the wage gap between community-based frontline workers and their counterparts who work for Te Whatu Ora needs to be acknowledged.

“We welcome the move the move towards closing the Pay Parity gap and for us this the start of a pathway to close that gap,” he said.

“We also note that 95 percent won’t close the gap completely but will go a long way towards it.”

However, Paul Goulter said the decision to continue to leave out GP practice nurses is regrettable.

Paying all nurses in New Zealand the same whether they work for Te Whatu Ora, Māori and Pasifika health providers, Aged Residential Care providers, Home and Community Support Services and Hospice sectors is vitally important.

“We note that General Practice nurses are not covered by the Government’s announcement and that’s a real concern to us.

“We will continue to press the case strongly for GP practice nurses to be covered.”

Paul Goulter called on the Government to ensure that the $200m a year being distributed actually goes to the nurses themselves rather than being diverted to other areas.

“We think there needs to be strong transparency that ensures the money actually does get to the nurses and there is enforceability to ensure it happens.”