Gisborne Hospital nurses take their case to the public during a nationwide 11am to 7pm strike on Tuesday over wage and patient safety concerns. Photo / Lewis Wheatley
Gisborne Hospital nurses take their case to the public during a nationwide 11am to 7pm strike on Tuesday over wage and patient safety concerns. Photo / Lewis Wheatley
Striking Gisborne Hospital ICU nurse Robyn Ngarangione says she feels “insulted” over stalled pay talks and patient safety concerns.
Ngarangione was one of 36,000 Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants who stopped work for eight hours on Tuesday.
Gisborne Hospital nurses, including Ngarangione, held pickets outside the hospital in the morning and later in the afternoon.
Health New Zealand has indicated its bargaining parameters are restricted to 1% of total employee costs over two years.
The offer would equate to 0.5% in the first year because it would not come into effect until April 2025, and up to 1% in the second year, the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) says.
Ngarangione said negotiations with Health NZ went over two years.
“They very slowly give it and slowly implement it; it doesn’t come in straight away. I feel insulted by the offer. You come to work and work hard ... that (offer) doesn’t cover the cost of living or inflation.”
The official inflation rate for the 12 months to the end of the September 2024 quarter was 2.2%.
Nurses seek public support as they protest outside Gisborne Hospital during Tuesday's 11am to 7pm strike. Gisborne nurses will strike again on December 17. Photo / Lewis Wheatley
Health NZ spokesman Mark Shepherd has defended the pay offer, citing increases over the past several years.
Ngarangione did not accept that argument, saying nurses received wage increases from pay equity in recent years.
“Pay equity is separate. It’s not a pay rise,” she said.
“It’s what you should have been getting based on sexual discrimination over a long time.”
Health NZ has also proposed pausing fulltime employee calculations for the Care Capacity Demand Management (CCDM) programme.
The CCDM calculates the number and the range of skills nurses, midwives, healthcare assistants and kaimahi hauora need based on how sick patients are and how much nursing care they require.
Ngarangione said the CCDM had been negotiated and in place for years.
Health NZ was claiming the CCDM figures were inaccurate, she said.
“It is more than what we would have if we didn’t have a system. It’s designed to make if safe for patients.”
Paul Goulter, of NZNO, said members were concerned the pause would leave few safeguards on staffing levels and result in fewer healthcare workers on duty.
The country needed more nurses, particularly New Zealand nurses, she said.
Health minister Shane Reti said he was disappointed by the strike and he disputed the NZNO’s claim budget constraints were putting patient safety at risk.
The Government had put additional funding of $1.4 billion into health, he said.
NZNO members have voted to hold rolling strikes over the next two weeks.
