Fair Share for Aged Care Rally

Press Release
26 August, Dunedin

Nurses, Care givers, Providers, Unions, residents and their families are holding a rally in Dunedin’s Upper Octagon this Friday August 26th, between 11am and 12 pm, to urge the government to increase funding for age care services.

The rally has been organised by the workers and providers of elderly care in Dunedin to protest against the insufficient government funding. They want the public to know that facilities are closing, wages are low, and the sector is having difficulty attracting and retaining caregivers and nurses.

The rally is taking place in Pete Hodgson’s backyard, and organisers hope that the Minister, responsible for aged care, will front up and take their message back to the Labour government.

One of the major issues facing the sector is that the government funds their nurses and caregivers at a far higher rate than nurses and caregivers in aged residential care. This means nurses and caregivers working in public hospitals earn up to 50% more than nurses and caregivers in aged residential care.

Providers, unions and nurses all agree that this is grossly unfair because aged care nurses and caregivers do a great job looking after 46,000 elderly New Zealanders every year and are just as valuable as their public hospital counterparts.

The crisis stems from government funding not meeting the costs of providing aged residential care.

All political parties need to acknowledge the aged care crisis and show leadership by increasing funding to the aged care sector so that our elderly are guaranteed to receive the care they deserve.

ENDS

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