8% pay boosts for GP & community nurses

About 6,100 more GP, community nurses and kaiāwhina will be eligible for pay rises of 8% on average to reduce pay disparities with nurses in hospitals, Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today.

The top up comes from a $200 million fund established to remove pay disparities between nurses working in different parts of the health system and is the latest action taken by the Government to boost nurses pay.

“Nurses with the same skills and experiences should receive comparable pay, regardless of which part of the health system they work in,” Dr Ayesha Verrall said.

“We need to be able to attract and reward nurses to work in hospitals, GPs and in the community. This significant investment is a major step towards tackling the long-standing issue of pay gaps between nurses who work in the community and those who work in hospitals.

“It will enable general practices and Primary Health Organisations to boost pay rates for about 4,800 practice nurses and kaiāwhina by an average of 8%.

“The Government has agreed with Te Whatu Ora’s updated advice to include practice nurses because a pay gap has emerged with Te Whatu Ora nurses since this initiative was first announced in November last year.

“This funding will also lift pay rates for about 1,300 nurses and kaiāwhina who work in Family Planning, Plunket/Well Child Tamariki Ora, school nursing services, mental health and addiction, rural hospitals, telehealth, community care services and the Youth One Stop Shop.

“These nurses are in addition to the 8,160 nurses and kaiāwhina who became eligible to receive pay rises under this initiative from the start of April, which means about 14,250 nurses and kaiāwhina in total will benefit from this initiative.

“This second large group of hard-working nurses will benefit from this pay boost from July this year.

“It demonstrates how much we value this vital workforce who play a critical role in caring for the health and wellbeing of people in their communities,” said Ayesha Verrall

Notes to editors :

Te Whatu Ora and Te Aka Whai Ora have already paid out $28.6 million to hundreds of providers in five sectors prioritised for additional funding from early April 2023 to lift pay rates for about 8,160 nurses and kaiāwhina.

This includes aged residential care, hospices, home and community support services, and kaupapa Māori and Pacific healthcare providers. That funding was for 2022/23, but these sectors will receive ongoing funding under this initiative as part of their usual price uplift process from 1 July.

We have also approved using the remaining balance of about $45 million to further support pay for nurses and kaiāwhina in some of these community-based sectors. For example, additional funding will be paid to providers to boost pay rates for nurses who work night shifts, such as in aged residential care and hospices.

The sectors that will benefit from additional funding under this initiative from 1 July include:

• General practice
• Family Planning
• Plunket/Well Child Tamariki Ora
• School nursing services
• Mental health and addiction
• Rural hospitals
• Telehealth
• Youth One Stop Shop

The sectors that benefited from Tranche 1 payments from early April 2023 include:

• Aged residential care
• Home and community support
• Hospice
• Kaupapa Māori and Pacific providers