7 August 2018

“Senior doctors welcome today’s news of a pay deal reached with nurses and congratulate this group of health professionals on their perseverance and determination,” says Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS).

He was commenting on today’s announcement by the New Zealand Nurses Organisation that the collective employment agreement for nurses, midwives and health care assistants had been settled after nearly a year of negotiations (https://www.nzno.org.nz/about_us/media_releases/articletype/articleview/articleid/2826/dhb-meca-ratified-by-members).

The pay deal has been welcomed by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Health Minister David Clark, who commented that the settlement will put 500 more nurses in our hospitals (https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/government-welcomes-nurses-settlement).

“Nurses are a hard-working and dedicated workforce, and are essential to a high quality public health system in New Zealand,” says Mr Powell.

“The Prime Minister and Health Minister are to be commended for their recognition that nurses have been devalued for so long, and it is this lack of valuing the work done by nurses that has made a satisfactory pay settlement so difficult to achieve.

“Other health professionals, including senior doctors, have also been devalued during years of sustained neglect, increased work pressures and under-resourcing of public health.

“Today’s announcement of the decision to accept the nurses’ pay deal represents months of hard work by nurses and their union representatives, and they’re to be congratulated for the outcome.”

ENDS

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