Senior hospital doctors and dentists are voicing their support for the thousands of general practice nurses who are striking today, saying all healthcare workers deserve investment.

The nurses are fighting for equal pay with their district health board colleagues.

“These nurses are at the coalface of our communities and the Covid pandemic has served to highlight the essential service they provide,” says the Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, Sarah Dalton.

“It’s patently unfair that such pay disparity exists between groups of workers with the same qualifications and experience”.

There is similar disparity among senior doctors with those employed in GP practices and non-DHB organisations generally earning significantly less than their DHB counterparts.

“We rely on community-based services for people to access basic healthcare,” Sarah Dalton says.

“Our colleagues in communities are critical to improving people’s health outcomes and they deserve the same salaries and conditions as their hospital colleagues”.

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