Dunstan hospital registered nurse Ashleigh Beck said the institution was one of several in the South owned by a trust rather than the government, although still largely funded by Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand (HNZ).
People had been congratulating nurses at the hospital for the pay equity agreement announced on Monday, not realising they were not included, the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) delegate said.
"For me and a lot of other nurses it’s really disheartening."
Staff shortages were an ongoing struggle, and this had caused the hospital to reduce its 24 acute bed inpatient ward to 20 beds.
People lived in the area because they liked the lifestyle of Central Otago, but nurses felt the situation was unfair when compared with HNZ-owned hospitals such as Dunedin.
It was "very challenging work", dealing with all sorts of situations from newborn babies to heart attacks and car accidents.
"We are a rural hospital, but all the work’s exactly the same."
More awareness was needed so these hospitals could be included in the historic deal, she said.
The agreement between HNZ, NZNO and the Public Service Association was announced on Monday after nurses voted to approve the offer.
Backdated to March 2022, pay would increase by 6.5% for senior nurses, and 4.5% for registered and enrolled nurses as well as healthcare assistants and mental healthcare assistants.
Nurses and assistants would also receive a lump-sum payment of up to $15,000 in recognition of prior work.
Dunedin nurse and NZNO president Anne Daniels welcomed the agreement earlier in the week as an important step in addressing decades of discrimination in the female-dominated workforce, but said there was still more work to do — only about half of NZNO members were set to benefit.
Nurses everywhere deserved the same pay, and disparities would make them want to work for HNZ, she said yesterday.
The situation was unfair and needed to be addressed quickly.
Gore Health chief executive Karl Metzler said HNZ’s urban hospitals were strengthened while rural hospitals were left to suffer.
The disparity should not exist and made healthcare tougher than it already was.
"It is manifestly unjust when you’ve got nurses who train and deliver the same level of service and care in their rural communities, but are deemed lesser beings that their urban counterparts."
Competing with the hospitals in Invercargill and Dunedin was an ongoing concern.
There was no way Gore Health would have been able to keep nurses if they had not topped up pay to keep pace, but the cost of this — over $250,000 a year—had caused a "significant deficit position", he said.
Waitaki District Health Services chief executive Keith Marshall said Oamaru Hospital had been matching the pay and conditions of HNZ since March, and was in the process of ratifying a pay rise equivalent to the pay equity settlement.
Its nursing situation had improved since last year, although there was still a slight shortage.
The situation amounted to a government discount on healthcare, Mr Marshall said.
"I think the crown should pay staff who do the same work the same amount no matter who their employer is."
