Kedgley Sue: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Kedgley Sue: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:618;Page:13965] 
2.  
SUE KEDGLEY (Green) 
 to the  
Minister of Health 
: Is she going to act on the call of 125000 New Zealanders who have signed a petition calling on the Government to fund district health boards so they can pay nurses fairly and ensure safe staffing levels; if not why not? 
Hon ANNETTE KING (Minister of Health) 
: 
 I understand the petition is yet to be tabled in Parliament. I will await the select committee deliberations and the Cabinet consideration of any recommendations from the committee. However I can say that this Government wants New Zealand to be a place where we can all work for fair pay. 
Sue Kedgley 
: Is the Minister aware that the gender pay gap in the health sector is 36 percent and given this will she commit to addressing the pay gap in this financial year commencing with a pay equity settlement for nurses? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: I think it is well known that there is a pay gap for many women in New Zealand. No the Government will not have a pay equity settlement in this year but it has made it clear that it is committed to pay equity. As the Prime Minister said yesterday nurses are at the early stage of salary negotiations. They are also mindful that following the review of pay equity issues in the public sector the Government is looking at a process of moving them forward from there and that is what will happen. 
Nanaia Mahuta 
: What increase has there been in the numbers of nurses employed in district health boards under this Government? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: Under this Government nursing fulltime-equivalents for all district health boards have increased by over 17 percent. 
Barbara Stewart 
: If money is to be made available to district health boards to pay nurses fairly and ensure safe staffing levels will she ensure that the money is dedicated to addressing only the nurses’ pay and cannot be used by district health boards to address perceived shortfalls in other areas? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: I am pleased to say that the perceived shortfalls are far less than they were with the district health boards coming in on target in terms of the predicted deficit. However any pay equity claim that is made and settled in the future would be settled on nurses’ pay. 
Sue Kedgley 
: Does she agree with the three in four New Zealanders who have said in polls that they believe nurses should earn at least as much as teachers police and junior doctors; if so where is the money to back up such a commitment? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: As I said in my primary answer the Government has committed itself to pay equity in the public sector. In terms of preparing a pay equity claim nurses are already the first out of the blocks. That claim will be addressed in terms of the pay equity criteria that will be established. The money for that would then be the responsibility of the Government as a whole. 
Sue Kedgley 
: Is she aware of the large amount of research that shows that nurse staffing levels directly affect patient safety and health; if so why is the hospital system still 2000 nurses short? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: There is certainly dispute about the shortage figure of 2000. However I can tell that member that we are encouraging boards to work with their clinical staff to ensure appropriate staffing levels. However as the Royal College of Nursing noted last year the capacity of the nursing workforce to provide good quality care does not depend solely on the number of staff. Other considerations such as organisational culture and clinical leadership are of fundamental importance as well.