A Philippines government agency is about to sign a contract for direct supply of nurses to the Counties Manukau District Health Board, a Manila newspaper reports.
And the deal has potential to be rolled over into a government-to-government arrangement for Filipino nurses to be hired for many of the nation's district health boards, the Inquirer newspaper reported today.
New Zealand hospitals have been struggling to retain staff, with unions representing senior doctors, junior doctors and nurses all warning of a crisis unfolding.
At Wellington's beleaguered Capital and Coast District Health Board, one in four nurses have quit in the past year.
But nursing recruitment and shortages -- particularly in specialist fields -- have become a national issue, and the secretary of the Philippine Department of Labour and Employment (DoLE) in Manila, Arturo Brion, today reported the Counties Manukau District Health Board is planning to recruit Filipino nurses, and that this may evolve into a government-to-government deal.
All Filipino nurses seeking employment in New Zealand would be registered with the to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), and those who are selected would be deployed to Counties Manukau hospitals.
It was reported in Manila in September that Counties Manukau representatives were interviewing applicants for nurses' jobs in late September.
The DHB were reported at the time to be seeking a direct-hiring scheme with the POEA to eliminate possible abuse and exploitation by private recruitment agencies, and an exemption from paying the $US450 ($NZ582) recruitment fee prescribed by the POEA.
Today, Mr Brion said a direct-hiring arrangement would protect nurses from unscrupulous recruiters, said Mr Brion. The district health board would re-imburse the nurses for their flights, reducing the "mobilisation cost" for each nurse to only 8000 pesos ($NZ253) each.
He said these POEA deployments may pave the way for the forging of a bilateral agreement between the Philippines and New Zealand that would provide for the employment of more Filipino nurses in other district health boards in this country.
"This will not only protect the nurses from unscrupulous recruiters but also ensure their employment and welfare in New Zealand," Mr Brion said.
He warned Filipino nurses already seeking jobs in New Zealand that some recruitment agencies were taking exorbitant fees.
Philippines nurses who have found jobs in New Zealand have been forced to pay 500,000 pesos ($NZ15,800) to 700,000 pesos ($NZ22,200) to the agencies involved.
In addition to collecting very high fees, the recruitment agencies assigned some nurses to rest homes where 15 percent cuts were made in their monthly salaries, Mr Brion said.
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Topic: Direct Hiring Of Filipino Nurses To New Zealand (Read 2383 times)