New Zealand investing $1.3 billion to hike healthcare wages, recruit talent

The New Zealand government is earmarking an additional $1.3 billion to hike wages and recruit more talent in the country's challenged health sector.

"To help stabilise our workforce, we are investing over $1 billion in increasing health workers' wages and boosting staff numbers, with a focus on areas facing greatest demand," said Health Minister Ayesha Verrall in a statement.

This budget includes a $63-million funding to recruit an additional 500 new nurses in the country.

New Zealand's Budget 2022 saw the investment of $76 million over four years to boost the health workforce, particularly primary care and nurses.

"Key targeted workforce initiatives such as Te Pitomata grants for tauira Māori and Ngā Manukura o Āpōpō nursing and midwifery leadership training will remove barriers to more responsive training pathways, increasing recruitment, and improving immigration processes to alleviate workforce shortages," Verrall said.

The Budget 2023 funding will also enable the priority actions identified by the workforce taskforce, according to the government.

New Zealand is short of 3,000 nurses in public and at least a thousand in the private sector, according to Dr. Shane Reti, National health spokesperson.

To attract and retain nurses and midwives, the party previously proposed paying their student loan debt in exchange of asking them to work in New Zealand for five years.

Pay disparity

Meanwhile, the government is also investing half a billion dollars into primary and community care sector to reduce pay disparities between hospital and community health sector staff, an addition to the recently granted $44 million over two years for primary care providers.

"This funding will support the establishment of comprehensive primary care teams, build capacity in the workforce, and address the burden of underfunding for Māori and Pacific providers. We will also allocate $4.9 million for the training and development of the new kaiāwhina workforce to support these teams," Verrall said.

A targeted investment of $37 million over the next two years will also be made to "more equitably allocate primary care funding to general practices," according to Verrall.

This boost will also include funding for recruit 193 additional frontline clinical team members in preparation for the anticipated healthcare pressures this winter.

"Around $99 million is being put towards the coming winter, focused on providing primary and community care closer to people's homes, reducing pressure on hospitals, and speeding up discharge from hospitals through community-based care for older people," the health minister said.

Easing hospital pressure

Meanwhile, the government's Budget 2023 for nurses will also be focusing on reducing pressure on hospital services.

According to Verrrall, $118 million will be allocated to reduce waiting lists by improving patient flow, enabling planned care to be delivered in primary settings, and freeing up inpatient hospital beds.

"We are spending $20 million to establish outreach services to lift immunisation and screening coverage for Māori and Pacific peoples and implement approaches and improvements in care and treatment that increase life expectancy of Māori and Pacific peoples," the official said.

The health minister pointed out that the budget is focused on three things: winter, workforce, and waitlists to "build a more equitable health system."

"From 2024, it is our intention that future health budgets will move to a three-year funding cycle to align with the first three-year New Zealand Health Plan, due in 2024," Verrall said.