Our goal is to provide the best possible content to support you and your business 4. Excellence in CARE • SEPTEMBER 2018 UPfront THE CEO’S MESSAGE Excellence in Care 2018 As we descend on Sky City in Auckland for the annual NZACA Conference, the trials and tribulations that so many Association members endured last year is replaced with another challenge, this time a looming workforce crisis focused on a shortage of registered nurses (RNs). Even before the multi-employer collective agreement (MECA) with public hospital RNs was agreed and settled, our industry was already seeing its nurses’ leave to go to the DHBs in anticipation of better pay and conditions. The trickle is now turning into a torrent as the prospect of an enhanced employment package in a DHB is now reality. The numbers speak for themselves. Turnover rates amongst registered nurses in aged residential care (ARC) are currently 38% compared to 26% a year ago and vacancy rates are between 6% and 10% across the sector. Extrapolated out this means there may be as many as 500 vacancies for aged care RNs. Given that the DHB MECA requires an extra 500 nurses, in the worst case scenario, we could be as many as 1000 nurses down in six to 12 months’ time, a situation that is not sustainable. Already we are seeing a few providers lodge section 31 notices with the Ministry of Health (MOH) because they don’t have RNs to manage some shifts and the Association knows of two larger sized operators who are considering closing down units in their facilities which would put the pressure back on DHBs. To inform our submission to Immigration New Zealand’s (INZ) Essential Skills in Demand (ESID) review in late July, our survey of the membership uncovered some interesting observations. In summary the key points were: • There is a genuine shortage of RNs available to work in the New Zealand ARC industry. • New Zealand trained RNs are not applying for vacant advertised positions. • Current immigration policies and visa settings add to the difficulty of recruiting internationally qualified nurses (IQNs). • ARC providers cannot recruit young New Zealanders willing to learn and available to do the job with the right training. • Graduate nurses and those on the Nurse Entry to Practice Programme (NETP) require support that many ARC facilities aren’t able to give due to the size and environment within which they operate. • New Zealand has an ageing population and an increasing number of older people requiring hospital care. This is only going to increase the number of RNs needed to work in our industry in the short, medium and long-term. So where will the nurses come from and what will we do? It is very encouraging that Chris Fleming (the lead DHB CEO for aged care) has publicly backed our plight and he is making good on the commitment he made to the NZACA in late May that DHBs would come back around the table and talk to us about our nurses if the MECA settlement was significantly more than 2%. Other parties that have joined in support include the Nursing Governance Group and the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO), as well as some mainstream media outlets, all of which is encouraging. By the time you read this we will have had our first meeting (late August) on the nurses situation with the DHBs, so we may be able to update you at Conference, however, I think we will be some way from any kind of resolution. On behalf of the NZACA Board and team, we look forward to seeing you in Auckland for three exciting days of conferencing from 11 to 13 September and I am particularly excited by Day Three of the programme this year with some really inspirational workshop sessions on offer. Simon Wallace Chief Executive NZACA