Home Support Providers To Struggle To Provide Services Following DHB Pay Equity Settlement

Following the important pay equity settlement announced today for DHB nurses, health care assistants and customer service workers, the Home and Community Health Association says that there has been insufficient consideration of how this significant settlement will impact on both the home and community health workforce and to the clients that they provide critical services to in their homes.

While we welcome the settlement for DHB workers, the ever-increasing and significant wage disparity between DHB staff and home and community staff, who are essentially performing the same work, is simply not acceptable.

The home and community workers have been, and continue to be, at the forefront of COVID-19 response in the community. The Home and Community Health Association believes that there should be no discrimination in pay rates, for basically the same work, based on the locality of where these services are delivered. We ask the government to consider funding the same increases to workers in the home and community sector.

“Additional funding is vital to close the significant gap between DHB workers and the same groups of employees in the home and community sector. 

The Home and Community Support Sector has lost a significant number of nursing, support worker and coordination staff during the COVID-19 response and we will continue to face a serious shortage of workers in this key health and disability service if funding for pay and associated costs are not urgently addressed” says Graeme Titcombe, CEO of the Home and Community Health Association. 

“We are astounded that the Government could conclude such an agreement, without any prior discussion or consultation as to the potential downstream impacts on home and community-based health and disability services. If the home based and community services were not to be included, in an immediate extension of this settlement, it is inevitable that we will see substantial service disruptions to a number of the highest needs community-based clients,”

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