KEY POINTS:
Midwives are being offered an $11,000 bonus to work at Counties Manukau District Health Board as staff shortages at the country's busiest maternity unit bite hard.
But the move has angered the other two Auckland boards because recently recruited staff have been lured away by an effective 20 per cent pay top-up on the average midwife's $55,000 annual salary.
The Auckland and Waitemata boards are also upset that the deal was made without their knowledge, when the three health boards are supposed to be working together to solve staff shortages.
The move has also put pressure on Auckland and Waitemata to follow suit with similar offers to prevent their own staff leaving for Counties.
One source said the move had already seen four midwives, recruited from a lengthy and costly overseas recruitment drive, defect to Counties shortly after starting at Auckland.
But the other health boards are livid largely because the payment was seen as unlikely to solve the shortage, while increasing staff poaching.
And there is concern that the generous top-up could see other departments affected by staff shortages demanding the same.
Regionally, Auckland is suffering from a serious shortage of midwives, but the hardest hit is Counties, where up to 20 per cent of the board's 160 midwifery positions are vacant.
This was on top of the area's shortage of independent midwives.
Counties chief medical officer Don Mackie said the deal had not been signed off yet, but would involve a retention allowance of $5000 plus $6000 for shift and additional workload issues arising from the shortage.
More than 100 new and existing midwives at Counties will be paid out the bonus pro rata over the course of a year.
Once signed off, Dr Mackie said the extra payments would be backdated to last month, and the arrangement would be reassessed in April.
Asked if the move broke the agreement between the three boards, he said: "Certainly we work regionally with the other local district health boards, but at times, we have specific needs which have specific remedies - and this comes under one of those."
He said the three health board CEOs met last Friday to discuss the issue.
Bernard McIlhone, advocate for the Midwifery Employee Representation & Advisory Service union representing around 35 per cent of Auckland midwives, said the shortage at Counties had been acute for some time.
It was seeking to extend the deal to Auckland and Waitemata, but agreed that on its own, the deal could see a "bleeding" of staff from one DHB to another.
"Longer term what's required is sustainable salaries that attract new midwives into training."
The Nurses Organisation's Auckland City Hospital organiser, Mark Lennox, agreed.
"What should be looked at is what's the deeper issue - why are we turning over a significant number?
"Perhaps the issue is not just money, perhaps it's some things to do with working conditions, staffing numbers and stress."
A spokeswoman for the Waitemata DHB said the board has been notified "informally".
It would consider a similar move to cover shortages over holiday periods.
"However, we would not be in the position to implement any permanent changes."
Ann Yates, midwifery leader at Auckland DHB, said the CEOs were at present negotiating to reach an agreement.
Q&A
What's the problem?
A serious shortage of midwives - about 30 out of 160 hospital-based positions are vacant in South Auckland.
What's the offer?
A retention allowance of $5000, plus $6000 for shift and extra workload pressures
Who gets it?
More than 100 new and existing midwives.
