8. Question No. 8—HealthDr SHANE RETI (National) to the Minister of HealthQuestion No. 8—Health8. Dr SHANE RETI (National) to the Minister of Health: Does he stand by all his statements and actions?Hon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister of Health): Yes.Dr Shane Reti: Why does his interim health plan say it will take another two years to get the full benefits of the health reforms given it has already been nearly two years since he announced them and tens of millions of Ernst & Young consulting dollars?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: Recently we released the Interim New Zealand Health Plan that was prepared by Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand and Te Aka Whai Ora - Māori Health Authority. That plan follows the current funding cycle which was a two-year funding cycle following this year's Budget and in preparation for the next New Zealand Health Plan which will be a three-year health plan following a three-year funding cycle in Budget 2024. The Public Health Service is a service that covers 30 hospital campuses about 80000 health workers—anything from senior clinicians to doctors to nurses to healthcare assistants to allied health workers. In addition to that it's also the service that funds much of primary and community care. This Government inherited a health system that was in desperate need of change. We're changing it and it will take time.Dr Shane Reti: What does he say to the chair and chief executive of the Rural Health Network and the college of GPs who say his interim health plan is disappointing and that the plan fails to deliver on how a sustainable rural workforce will be delivered?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: I refer that person to the specific aspects of the interim health plan that talks about rural health needs and the development of a rural health strategy and I look to the experience that we all saw for ourselves at Taupō Hospital when we release the plan and the difference that adding a CT scanner made to that hospital and to the wider district and to access to healthcare for more rural people—access they had not hitherto seen.Dr Shane Reti: What does he say to an associate professor of health policy at Auckland University who suggests his interim health plan is virtue signalling and light on detail and concludes In two years if we were to ask how do we know things are going to plan I don't know if there's anything in there that would help us answer that question."?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: The interim health plan sets out around about 120 different tasks that are part of the process to turn around a health system that has been underfunded and under-resourced for far too long and not delivering on the health needs for New Zealanders. I stand by the plan that's prepared by the senior clinicians and other experts from Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand and Te Aka Whai Ora - Māori Health Authority.Dr Shane Reti: Why is it that with nearly every wait-list target being the worst on record the only targets in his interim health plan are emissions targets?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: In addition to this Government inheriting a health system that had been underfunded and under-resourced for many years we also inherited a health system that was not achieving for New Zealanders what it should do which is improved equity and improved access. That is what the health plan seeks to do. It is an interim health plan; as the large and difficult job of creating a health system capable of allocating its resources properly and fairly and efficiently right around New Zealand starts its journey.Dr Shane Reti: What actions did he take around the health and safety provisional improvement notice issued two weeks ago by frustrated staff at North Shore Hospital who said that the emergency department (ED) was at critical overload unsafe and that patients and staff could be harmed; and were any actions he took clearly ineffective given reports of an innocent bystander being seriously assaulted at the very same ED last night?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: The responsibility for responding to those improvement notices is the responsibility of Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand management. They are in receipt of those notices. Where those notices have been issued in other hospitals around the country it has resulted in engagement between WorkSafe New Zealand and the hospital management and I expect the same will happen in relation to North Shore Hospital.Dr Shane Reti: What does he say to the Australian and New Zealand college of ICU specialists who ask "What work is he doing to expedite the immigration entry of ICU nurses that are required to open recently funded ICU beds?"Hon ANDREW LITTLE: Well I'm glad that member has drawn attention to the significant additional investment that this Government has made in our ICUs: $100 million for capital spending; over $500 million to recruit the additional staff over the next four years to run them. What I'm very pleased to tell the House is that since 1 January this year 1266 internationally qualified nurses have arrived in New Zealand to pick up their work. They've arrived here under two visas: the critical purpose work visa and the accredited employer work visa. I can say that a total of 3510 overseas qualified health workers have arrived since 1 January to work across our health system—public and private—and I can say that just in relation to the accredited employer work visa 471 of those visas have now been approved. We are attracting nurses to work in New Zealand including critical healthcare nurses and we will continue that programme to fill the vacancies because this is a Government that has funded 5000 additional nurse positions in our hospitals. We'll continue to fund more as we rebuild the health system that when inherited was left in such an appalling state.Dr Shane Reti: How many nurses have left New Zealand in exactly the same time frame that he has just quoted?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: Well nurses come and go. What I can say is we have more nurses employed right now than we did as a matter of just some months ago. The reality is this is a Government that does not turn its back on the health system does not turn its back on the mental health system; and a health organisation—Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand—that is focused on what needs to be done to rebuild our health system.Dr Shane Reti: Who is correct: the chair of Health New Zealand Rob Campbell who told Heather Du Plessis Allan last week that there are multiple crises in the health system; or the Minister who still denies there is a crisis?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: That member continues his long-track record of simply getting things wrong and he did it again just now."