Newborns, Cancer Patients Suffer As Govt Leaves Health Jobs Empty – Greens
The Green Party is calling for the Government to direct Te WhatΕ« Ora to fill vacant roles in healthcare services as quickly as possible, and to fund them to do so.
βThe PSA provided damning evidence that the Minister of Health has knowingly weaponised the bureaucracy to slow the recruitment of health workers as a cost saving measure,” says Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson.
βThe refusal to invest in our frontline health services means Te WhatΕ« Ora are deliberately delaying filling clinical roles to save money. Patients across Aotearoa are paying the price for this.”
βWhile newborn babies wait in intensive care, the Health Minister is taking hundreds of millions of dollars that should be used for our public health system and giving it to private, for-profit providers.β
“Itβs appalling to see that more than three quarters of staff have had to wait more than a month to get approval to fill a vacancy, including delays to staff three neo-natal intensive care unit nurses at Capital, Coast and Hutt Valley hospitals.β
“The Minister was warned in a briefing that in order to save money, some clinical roles would be delayed or not recruited until the end of the 2025/2026 economic year.”
“This Government has consistently said that they would not cut front line services to balance the budget. This report shows the real-world cost of this Governmentβs reckless cuts to funding of our critical public services.”
“A Green Government would mean a properly funded healthcare system that support staff and ensures everyone gets access to the care they need. We urge the Minister to reverse these restrictions to staffing and hire the healthcare workers we need,” says Davidson.
While our Health Minister, Brown, is totally fixated on privatising our Health System, NZ’s people are in deep trouble. There are huge shortages of doctors, nurses, back-up staff, hospital beds etc. problems which are becoming worse by the day. Brown needs to be relieved of his duties β he is a complete danger to us all and has no intention of changing his mind-set. Penk was a natural leader in comparison β now there is no one anywhere near the calibre of Penk β National’s coffers are empty, hence why Luxon survives the coups! NZ does not want privatisation of any of our necessary resources β it’s a hollow dream and about to blow up in their faces. The surgery waiting lists are appalling with only those who can afford private healthcare being attended to. Why is this CoC so blinkered? How come they can’t see the damage they are doing? It’s got to stop NOW!