A sustainable nursing workforce is critical to general practice and NZMA supports the New Zealand Nurses Organisation’s
call for pay parity with DHB employed nurses.
"There is no justification for nurses working in the community to be paid up to 10% less than those who work in the
hospital. Current funding does not allow primary care nurses to be paid the same as their hospital-based colleagues,"
says Dr Kate Baddock Chair of the NZMA.
"The skill and contribution of nurses is vital to the primary care team and the delivery of health services to all New
Zealanders. Over recent weeks day in and day out our nurses have been on the frontline in the community battling Covid.
We value our nurses highly, but to do this in real terms, the Government needs to invest in the general practice team to
close the pay gap. If this gap is not addressed general practice will struggle to recruit and retain nurses. This will
further increase pressure on the delivery of high-quality general practice service in the community.”
“The Government last week announced an extra $3.92 billion dollars for DHBs over the next four years - a record funding
injection of $980 million per year. This increase must be proportionately passed through to primary care. General
practice has been disproportionately impacted by the historical under investment in health and this needs to be
rectified to rebuild sustainability, value our workforce and ensure New Zealand retains a world class public health
system.”