Health Care Aotearoa Supports Living Wage

Health Care Aotearoa, which represents many community & iwi controlled primary health providers, is supporting this week’s focus on a New Zealand Living Wage, including the announcement of the living wage rate.

“Our primary health services every day see the results of low wages and the lack of sustainable incomes in the health problems that we deal with in our communities. This is not just a cost to the families living in these communities but also to the taxpayers who foot the bill for our public health services,” said Healthcare Aotearoa National Co-ordinator Muriel Tunoho.

“Health Care Aotearoa is part of the Living Wage Movement because we believe that all New Zealanders should earn enough not just to be able to survive but also to have the time away from work to participate in school, family and community activities.”

“If we are serious about addressing inequalities in NZ, then introducing a living wage is a no brainer”.

“Many of our Wellington-based services support the living wage principle and have already included this in their collective agreement, despite the cuts in their Government funding. But we would like to see larger, corporate employers take a lead in implementing the living wage immediately.”

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Gordon Campbell: On Failures Of Care For Those With Mental Disabilities

Hard to imagine a more disturbing insight into the treatment of the vulnerable than the Health Ministry report on Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau. The Ministry has found that the country’s only kaupapa Maori intellectual disability residential care provider has been “seriously dysfunctional.”

The ministry says the business has failed to recruit and retain quality staff – and says the kaimahi (caregivers) that have been employed are seriously unsuitable for the job, lacking basic knowledge. But Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau doesn’t get all the blame. The report says there’s a significant gap under disability laws to ensure there’s oversight by qualified clinical professionals. More>>