About 36,000 Te Whatu Ora nurses, midwives, health care assistants and kaimahi hauora will down tools tomorrow (Tuesday 3 December) in a nationwide strike over patient safety concerns following proposals raised in recent collective bargaining with Health NZ.

The New Zealand Nurses Organisation Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa (NZNO) members fear Te Whatu Ora’s plans to pause a key component of its safe staffing programme put patient and whānau safety and wellbeing at risk, NZNO Chief Executive Paul Goulter says.

Te Whatu Ora proposed pausing FTE calculations for the Care Capacity Demand Management (CCDM) programme during recent collective bargaining. CCDM calculates the number and the range of skills nurses, midwives, health care assistants and kaimahi hauora need based on how sick patients are and how much nursing care they require.

Paul Goulter says NZNO members are concerned this pause leaves few safeguards on staffing levels and will result in fewer health care workers on duty.

"Ultimately, patients will pay the price for hospitals that are continuously understaffed and under-resourced."

Members are also disappointed Te Whatu Ora indicated their bargaining parameters are restricted to 1% of total employee costs, he says. This would be just ½% in the first year because it won’t come into effect until April 2025, and up to 1% in the second year.

"This means nurses, midwives, health care assistants and kaimahi hauora will be offered a wage increase well below the rate of inflation - and effectively a pay cut. Nurses should not have to prop up the health system by taking cuts in pay.

"This could lead to a further exodus of New Zealand nurses to Australia. Nurses need a pay rise that reflects at least the cost of living and recognises their skills and knowledge. With Australia looking like an attractive option, we need pay and conditions that value them and help keep them in New Zealand," Paul Goulter says.

- The nationwide strike will be a complete withdrawal of labour at every place in New Zealand where Te Whatu Ora provides health care or hospital care services.
- It will be held from 11am to 7pm on Tuesday 3 December.
- Life preserving services will continue to be provided.
- The nationwide strike will be followed by rolling district strikes. Details of these will be released in due course.

Nurses explain in their own words why they are striking...

Waikato nurse Tracy Chisholm, says:

We are striking because we know that nurses play an integral part to the NZ Health System. The lack of respect for the health of New Zealanders and the nursing community by this government needs to be called out.

For me it’s about safety - the safety of our patients. How do we provide culturally safe care without the nurses to do it; how do we educate, prevent deterioration and further harm without the nurses to provide; how do we meet the governments health Kaupapa without the nurses?

Rotorua nurse Lyn Logan, says:

We are striking because Te Whatu Ora's constant financial constraints impact the care we provide our patients. When we are under-resourced and understaffed, we do not have enough healthcare workers to give the best care, and our patient's care will suffer as a result. NZNO members are standing up for a better health system for our patients, whanau, and our country.

For me, it’s about informing the public who use health services, and my community, that if I do not strike then I am not committed to improving health services in my region. I want to give our community the best care I can when they come into the hospital, at present I cannot do this.

The Government and Te Whatu Ora are not listening to healthcare workers who are on the frontline, so striking is the only way I can raise awareness of the issues I face with unsafe staffing and inequity. If we rise up together, we can make a difference and try and change how things are at present.

Hutt Valley nurse Nathan Clark, says:

We are striking because it's about patient safety, ensuring we have enough skilled healthcare workers at the patient’s bedside, in the community, in people’s homes and where they are needed.

We have been fighting and advocating for years for safety for our patients. As health professionals we know that nurses at bedsides and safe staffing provides for a better outcome, better patient care and patient experiences when receiving health care services.

We are striking because putting our patient needs at the forefront by seeking increased staffing levels, commitment to the identified Care Capacity staffing increases and a wage that reflects our skills and knowledge and to retain our workforce.

Christchurch nurse Debbie Handisides, says:

For me this strike is for our future nurses and health care; to not lose the gains we’ve made for nurses and patients in Aotearoa.

We have fought for years for nurses to be paid equally to a male comparator, but with the parameters that Te Whatu Ora are proposing up to 1% total cost of a nurse won’t even meet the household cost of living, so why would anyone pick nursing as a career if they can’t pay their household bills.

The future of health care sits on nurses’ shoulders because we care with our hearts, yet the Government just talks about budget targets saving lives, yet it’s actually doctors and nurses that save lives, and are the ones that care so much we’re fighting by striking for a better funded health care system to save people’s lives.

Tauranga nurse Helena Joyce, says:

I am striking because as a nurse I see how dangerous it is when we are short-staffed, nurses get overworked and then make mistakes like medication errors. Years of effort have gone into CCDM and now they are throwing it away. What happens next year when they start a new ward or do some changes to a ward how then, are management going to decide how many nurses are needed. There seems to be no point in throwing this out except to make us understaffed.

Waitemata nurse Troy Stewart, says:

We are fed-up with the constant undervaluing of our complex and comprehensive work as nurses, and the disrespect being shown towards our understanding of what we need to do our job properly.

We feel that Te Whatu Ora's suggestion that we are only worth a net pay cut and that we don't know how to represent how understaffed we are is insulting and irresponsible. Why would anyone be willing to roll over and accept a precedent that would undermine the wellbeing of our health system founded on telling the workers that hold the system up that they are worth less than nothing?

Whakatāne nurse Tracy Black, says:

For me, it’s about the safety of my people, culturally safe staffing saves lives.

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