Question 

Green

Labour

National

Act

Te Paati Māori*

Act

Make the Health System more accessible and equitable

Will you ensure Te Aka Whai Ora has the funding it needs to make a meaningful difference to Māori health?

Yes

Yes

No

No

Yes

Will you make access to doctors and dentists free?

Yes

Somewhat

No

No

Yes

Support Health workers

Will you pay the living wage to all workers in the health system, whether they work for Te Whatu Ora or the funded sector?

Yes

Yes

No

No

Will you commit to settling Pay Equity Claims?

Yes

Yes

No

No

Yes

Do you support Te Mauri o Rongo – the health charter, which sets out how the health system is going to care for workers?

Yes

Yes

No

No

How will you ensure safe-staffing in the health system?

• Ensure that the workforce is properly valued and supported to stay in the job, including Māori who provide essential care for whānau, hapū and iwi

• Ensure all healthcare workers have fair wages, workload and conditions.

• Increase entrants into health professions and placements for on-the-job learning.

Significant progress has been made to improve health workforce recruitment and retention last year.

The Te Whatu Ora workforce plan emphasised the need to reduce our reliance on immigration and focus on the domestic pipeline. Progress will take time, but we are laying the foundations for change in safe staffing.

We will deliver more nurses and midwives through more competitive immigration settings and paying up to $22,500 of nursing graduates’ student loans in return for working in New Zealand for 5 years.  We will also build a third medical school in Waikato and increase training places at medical schools. 

Yes. The solution lies in increasing the health workforce to levels to ensure safety. ACT have recently announced a policy to increase the health workforce.