Nurses and health boards to resume talks

Nurses will resume negotiations over a collective agreement with district health boards, following an eight-hour strike on Wednesday. NZ Nurses Organisation representatives met health board advocates on Thursday to schedule a resumption of bargaining in the week of June 21. NZNO lead negotiator David Wait said the union would survey members about further strike action. He said the parties had already completed 28 days of negotiations and the union would be looking for a significant improvement on the previous offer, which included a 1.38 per cent pay increase. Members were frustrated over the failed accord on safe staffing, signed in 2018, under which health boards committed to having a staffing tool fully implemented by June 30. Care Capacity Demand Management determines the staffing for every shift, based on at least one year of patient data. The most recent Ministry of Health data showed 30 per cent of hospital wards had the system fully implemented.