The New Zealand Nurses Organisation Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa (NZNO) agrees with the Minister of Health that every dollar spent on health is precious but disagrees that the Government’s health targets can be reached within current budgets.
Today, Health Minister Hon Dr Shane Reti released the Government’s implementation plan for reaching its five health targets for shorter stays in emergency departments, shorten wait times to see specialists and receive treatments, improved immunisation for children and faster access to cancer treatments. Initiatives include expanding the number of beds and operating theatres in public hospitals and making greater use of capacity in private hospitals.
Health Commissioner Lester Levy has advised him that these targets can be reached within current resources.
NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says it’s one thing to have a plan, but you need people and resources to implement it.
"The operational Health Budget only increased by 0.4 percent. That’s not enough to address staffing issues or achieve the health targets. The simple truth is that Health is underfunded and under-staffed.
"We are continually hearing from our members that there is an understaffing crisis. They have held rallies, strikes and marches outside their hospitals and care facilities voicing their concerns about understaffing and cuts to health care.
"Te Whatu Ora say that they are recruiting more nurses than ever, but this is not the reality our nurses are seeing when they are struggling with high workloads, and nurses are not being replaced when they leave.
"We know there is a freeze on roles that are not patient-facing such as administration and support staff. This will have a flow-on event of even more work for frontline staff.
Reducing waiting times and ED stays will be very difficult to achieve with the current lack of investment in the health workforce. We need a robust workforce that can provide the high-quality care Dr Reti envisions for all the people of New Zealand. This won’t be happening without a commitment to appropriate funding, says Ms Nuku.