9. Question No. 9—HealthDr SHANE RETI (National) to the Minister of HealthQuestion No. 9—Health9. Dr SHANE RETI (National) to the Minister of Health: Does she stand by all her statements and actions? Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL (Minister of Health): Yes in the context they were made. Dr Shane Reti: Does she stand by her recent statement about the health system that We are actually doing alright." when on Monday Waikato Hospital had almost every ambulance in the region parked for up to four hours waiting to get into the emergency department (ED) leading to St John's declaring a major incident because of the delays? Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL: Yes I do. Overall we have made phenomenal progress with our health system. I would look at the fact that in priority areas of workforce we have grown our workforce with 1000 more nurses in the health system than there were 18 months ago; we are driving waiting lists down; and with respect to winter pressures despite the challenges of winter we are continuing to offer services with surgical wait-lists coming down despite those pressures. Dr Shane Reti: Does she stand by her recent statement that the health system is doing all right when Waikato ED was issued with a provisional improvement notice this week because severe staff shortages and unmanageable workloads had made the department critically unsafe? Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL: I take and Te Whatu Ora takes those issues of health and safety incredibly seriously. I understand Te Whatu Ora is responding to that notice. In addition I would note that the emergency department at Waikato is fully staffed for medical and healthcare assistants and is only four fulltime-equivalents short for nursing and we continue to make progress on that. Dr Shane Reti: How are we to test the veracity of that answer when she is unable to report workforce shortages in EDs? Hon Grant Robertson: Point of order Mr Speaker. It's a longstanding convention of this House not to call into question the truthfulness of a member. Hon Michael Woodhouse: Speaking to that point Mr Speaker that was not what Dr Reti did. It's not unusual—and indeed you encourage members through supplementary questions to test the veracity of answers. That is not to suggest that the answer was misleading.SPEAKER: I'll check the Hansard when it comes out but I think Dr Reti said how can he test the veracity. I think that's OK—you know there's a fine line before suggesting that a previous answer or the Minister has said something that was not true. Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL: That is what I have been advised by Te Whatu Ora but I would also put it to the member that this Government—particularly recently—has done a huge amount to make sure that informative statistics and modelling is available on the issue of the health workforce in a way that it hasn't been before.Dr Shane Reti: If the health system is doing all right how does she explain a letter sent to her on 25 July from concerned ED staff at Palmerston North Hospital who wrote "We are practising under crisis standards of care without public acknowledgment that we are doing so and the moral injury experienced by our staff is no longer episodic but is a constant state of existence." while at the same time communications with union representatives were stating that "National leadership needs to provide us with both the vision and the plan. We don't really need another site visit."? Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL: I have visited that emergency department and will continue to do so to make them know that the Government is concerned around the status of that hospital. I am concerned to see that Te Whatu Ora responds to the report on the culture at Palmerston North Hospital because that is very important and I continue to work regularly with unions on these matters."