Health NZ accused of dropping 'safe staffing' from nurses pay offer
RNZ
The biggest nurses' union is accusing Health NZ of putting money ahead of safety by dropping a safe staffing agreement from its latest contract offer.
Negotiations, which began last October, have stalled over what the Nurses Organisation called "big ticket items" centred on public safety, leading to a nationwide strike in December.
NZNO chief executive Paul Goulter said in an earlier offer, Te Whatu Ora committed to acting on safe staffing research they had agreed to do together.
"Te Whatu Ora has removed that from their latest offer without explanation. This demonstrates their focus is on cost cutting, not patient safety."
A survey of members showed understaffing was putting patients at risk, he said.
"Overworked staff are unable to give patients the care they need and leads to staff burnout."
Figures for 631 wards using the safe staffing (Care Capacity Demand Management programme) - obtained by the union under the Official Information Act - showed ongoing nursing shortages, Goulter said.
"These figures show from January to October last year almost half (or 47.1 percent) of all wards were understaffed 20 percent of the time. That means nurses and health care assistants are working in understaffed wards at least one shift a week.
"We are also continuing to see acute levels of understaffing in emergency departments, mental health, women's health and children's wards."
In an interview with RNZ's
Morning Report
programme on Friday, Te Whatu Ora acting chief executive Robyn Shearer said it was difficult to resolve clinical need through collective bargaining.
"It's not an easy thing to put into settlement agreement, but we do have operational policies which look at safe staffing and rostering and that continues," she said.
However, Goulter said safe staffing had to be central to any agreement.
"It is concerning that Robyn Shearer isn't aware CCDM has been in the Te Whatu Ora/NZNO collective agreement since 2010," he said.
RNZ asked Te Whatu Ora for its response to the union's claim it was putting cost-cutting ahead of patient safety by removing the commitment to safe staffing, and whether the Care Capacity Demand Management programme was on hold.
However, a spokesperson said the agency had nothing further to add to its earlier statement and Robyn Shearer's interview.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
33 minutes ago
- RNZ News
Over half of student nurses will look overseas if jobs unavailable in New Zealand
A survey of student nurses has found nearly 62 percent are considering looking for a job overseas when they graduate if they can't find one in New Zealand. Photo: A survey of student nurses has found almost 62 percent are considering a job overseas if one isn't available in New Zealand when they graduate. The survey of 1246 student nurses was undertaken by the New Zealand Nurses Organisation Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa (NZNO). NZNO said it comes as Health New Zealand refuses to address the union's claims around obligations to employ new graduates in collective agreement negotiations. Union National Student Unit (NSU) co-chairperson Bianca Grimmer said the 2025 student survey results were "crystal clear". "Hire us or we will leave," she said. "The survey shows 61.86 percent of students were considering seeking a nursing job overseas if they were unable to get a new graduate job in Aotearoa New Zealand. "This increased to 73 percent of Māori respondents. This is a significant potential loss of our domestic nursing workforce." Grimmer said last year only 50 percent of nurse graduates applying for a hospital job got one. "It's still looking very uncertain for this year as to how many jobs there are but students are constantly getting information from Australia and other countries as well, saying that they're happy to take students over there." She said hospital jobs were sought after because they exposed young nurses to specialist experience and often paid better. Grimmer, a third year nursing student, said 80 percent of those surveyed indicated they were stressed by finances during study. This was because a nursing degree cost upwards of $30,000 in tuition fees, which did not include uniforms, parking and petrol to get to placements - where nurses can train for up to six weeks at a time in a hospital or clinic during their training. Student nurses were not paid during the placements, which involved working up to 40 hours per week including shift work, and Grimmer said that made it difficult to keep a part-time job, which made studying financially fraught as well as contributing to burnout in some students who were supporting a family. "An increased fear of not getting work is exacerbated by most students' money concerns issues, many of whom depend on funding from student loans for their survival. "Paying all students the minimum or living wage while on clinical placements would make a massive difference to graduate numbers. Nursing students need assistance while they study." Health New Zealand national chief nurse Nadine Gray said nursing turnover in hospitals had markedly decreased - from 14 percent in December 2022 to 8.6 percent in December last year. She said more than 60 percent of nurses worked outside the hospital system and graduate nurses were encouraged to consider jobs right across the health system, including in primary, community and aged care. "Earlier this year the government announced a major investment into primary care including several initiatives to build nursing career pathways in primary and community care." More than $30 million over five years was being allocated to increase the number of graduate nurses working in primary care, including general practice and aged care, by 400 a year, Gray said. Providers would receive $20,000 to employ a graduate nurse in rural areas, and $15,000 in urban settings to boost resourcing in general practices. "We're also working hard to make part-time roles available for graduate RNs (registered nurses), as we know everyone's life circumstances are different." She said Health NZ remained committed to employing and retaining graduate RNs. Minister of Health Simeon Brown said the government's plan to grow frontline health workers was demonstrated in the employment of an extra 2100 nurses since 2023. He said the average salary of a registered nurse (including senior nurses) was $125,660, including overtime and allowances - with comparable base salaries to nurses in New South Wales. "Since 2011, the top salary step of a registered nurse covered by the NZNO collective agreement has increased by 73.95 percent, compared with a 35.53 percent increase across the broader labour market." The government backed nurses with recruitment incentives, training positions, and accelerated tertiary education in primary and community care and Budget 2025 included several initiatives to create more opportunities for nursing graduates to begin their careers in primary care, Brown said. This included doubling the number of nurse practitioner training places each year to 120 by 2026 and investing in fast-track advanced tertiary education for up to 120 primary care nurses each year to become nurse prescribers. "I encourage the NZNO to put this improved offer to its members, noting that the Employment Relations Authority has already recommended NZNO accept the offer that was presented to them in May." Additional reporting RNZ staff. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
19 hours ago
- RNZ News
Health insurance premiums going up
Do you know why your health insurance premiums are paying for someone elses operation? The cost of insurances have shot up recently; Stats NZ figures show as at March last year house insurance was up almost 25%, contents insurance up about 28% and car insurance up almost 23% compared to the previous year. Some companies offering health insurance as part of employment packages are looking to ditch or downgrade their cover as costs go up. Southern Cross had about 955,000 members last financial year or about 60% of Aotearoa's health insurance market by customer numbers. Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Regan Savage spoke to Lisa Owen. To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Otago Daily Times
Health NZ accused of dropping 'safe staffing' from nurses' pay offer
The biggest nurses' union is accusing Health NZ of putting money ahead of safety by dropping a safe staffing agreement from its latest contract offer. Negotiations, which began last October, have stalled over what the Nurses Organisation called "big ticket items" centred on public safety, leading to a nationwide strike in December. NZNO chief executive Paul Goulter said that in an earlier offer, Te Whatu Ora had committed to acting on safe staffing research they had agreed to do together. "Te Whatu Ora has removed that from their latest offer without explanation. This demonstrates their focus is on cost cutting, not patient safety." A survey of members showed understaffing was putting patients at risk, he said. "Overworked staff are unable to give patients the care they need and leads to staff burnout." Figures for 631 wards using the safe staffing (Care Capacity Demand Management programme) - obtained by the union under the Official Information Act - showed ongoing nursing shortages, Goulter said. "These figures show from January to October last year almost half (or 47.1 percent) of all wards were understaffed 20 percent of the time. That means nurses and health care assistants are working in understaffed wards at least one shift a week. "We are also continuing to see acute levels of understaffing in emergency departments, mental health, women's health and children's wards." In an interview with RNZ's Morning Report programme on Friday, Te Whatu Ora acting chief executive Robyn Shearer said it was difficult to resolve clinical need through collective bargaining. "It's not an easy thing to put into settlement agreement, but we do have operational policies which look at safe staffing and rostering and that continues," she said. However, Goulter said safe staffing had to be central to any agreement. "It is concerning that Robyn Shearer isn't aware CCDM has been in the Te Whatu Ora/NZNO collective agreement since 2010," he said. RNZ asked Te Whatu Ora for its response to the union's claim it was putting cost-cutting ahead of patient safety by removing the commitment to safe staffing, and whether the Care Capacity Demand Management programme was on hold. However, a spokesperson said the agency had nothing further to add to its earlier statement and Robyn Shearer's interview.
