Media Releases

The Aged Care Association is thrilled to hear that nurses are to be added to the immigration “Green List” fast track, able to apply for residency immediately, including those already in New Zealand.

Association chief executive Simon Wallace says, “This announcement is welcome news for aged care residents, their families, overworked staff and facility owners. At last we can attract the nurses we need to provide the care older New Zealanders need.”

“And it’s welcome news, too, for the migrant nurses who choose to make New Zealand their home. Immediate residency will give them the security they need to settle here.”

“We are very pleased that the government has listened and acted on what was becoming a very serious situation. Today the aged care sector just took another step back from the brink.”

“The Association and its members will take time to celebrate but we won’t be resting on our laurels. Next to sort out is improved investment to support home-grown nursing,” Wallace says.

Funding to bring aged care nurses’ pay up to the level of public hospital nurses is a huge boost for the sector and is being celebrated by the Aged Care Association.

At the NZ Aged Care Association conference in late 2020, Minister Little made a commitment to deliver pay parity for aged care nurses.

“We are so pleased the Government has made good on the promise”, says Association chief executive, Simon Wallace.

“Achieving pay parity with Te Whatu Ora hospital nurses means the aged residential care sector will now be on a level playing field to attract and retain registered nurses.

“The Aged Care Association is looking forward to working with the Ministry of Health, Te Whatu Ora and Te Aka Whai Ora to make sure the plan achieves its intended purpose. We know it will be complex, as there are over 650 aged residential care facilities in New Zealand.

“While this funding boost is not a silver bullet, it will go a long way to resolving the issues in the aged residential care sector, says Wallace.

“The Government will need to put in place a plan to maintain pay parity in future.”

The disconnect between the Government’s immigration policy and what is actually happening on the ground in aged care and other sectors is frustrating, the NZ Aged Care Association says.

NZACA chief executive Simon Wallace says, “The aged residential care sector is in crisis, there is no other word for it.

“Over 20 carehomes have closed permanently this year, over 1200 care beds have closed because of staff shortages and there are more than 1200 vacancies for registered nurses.

“Meanwhile, the Minister of Immigration is refusing to allow internationally qualified nurses apply for New Zealand residency straight away, unlike acoustic engineers and chief information officers.

“We want these nurses to be given residency from day one, and to be bonded to an aged care employer for two years in order to provide continuity of care for residents.

“There are nowhere near enough nurses to care for older New Zealanders – and the nurses who are trying to cover all these vacancies are burning out and leaving the profession.

“Immigration settings must ensure the sector’s access to internationally qualified nurses is not hindered.

“We urge the Government to urgently review the immigration green list now, not in May next year as planned,” Wallace says.

The NZACA has recently made a submission to the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment on the Future of the Skilled Migrant Category. The submission can be viewed here (pdf).

The closure of Mercy Parklands carehome in Auckland is an absolute tragedy says the NZ Aged Care Association.

CEO Simon Wallace says, “We want all New Zealanders to get the care they need, where and when they need it – and that includes older New Zealanders.

“Yet here we are again, in a situation where the lives of older New Zealanders, the workers who care for them and the aged residential care providers are thrown into turmoil.

“This must be a wake up call for the Government.

“Mercy Parklands is closing its doors because there are not enough health professionals to provide the care needed. The aged residential care sector is short over 1200 nurses, a quarter of the workforce.

“Bed closures are happening every day because of nursing shortages caused by the pay gap between hospital and aged care nursing.

“Recent research by the Aged Care Association shows that over 1200 beds aged residential beds closed in the last year, meaning over 1200 older New Zealanders are now without the care they need.

“The Government doesn’t fund aged care nearly enough – nurses’ wages are falling compared to their hospital colleagues, and carehomes are getting older.” Wallace says.

The Aged Care Association sends its sympathies to the residents, families, staff and owners of Mercy Parklands, and urges the Government to take urgent action to stop aged residential care closures.