8. Question No. 8—HealthBROOKE VAN VELDEN (Deputy Leader—ACT) to the Minister of HealthQuestion No. 8—Health8. BROOKE VAN VELDEN (Deputy Leader—ACT) to the Minister of Health: Has he received any advice saying that many health professions are experiencing workforce shortages and should be included in the Green List now"; if so when if at all will he advocate to get such health professions on the Green List?Hon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister of Health): To the first part of the member's question this Government created the Green List which has made it easier than ever to come to New Zealand to practise as a nurse and indeed many other health professions. From the beginning we built into the policy a review for early next year and I've been consistently clear that we are keeping a watching brief in the meantime. In light of information that some medical disciplines in short supply were not being granted accredited employer work visas on the Green List I requested advice from the Ministry of Health on which disciplines they considered should be on the Green List. The advice I received stated as the member's question states; however the ministry has advised the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) that many health professions are experiencing workforce shortages and should be included in the Green List now. To the second part of the member's question I continue to work with colleagues officials and stakeholders on addressing the current workforce shortages considering all avenues including immigration and also long-term workforce planning measures. The latter was the subject of a day-long discussion with around 220 health workforce representatives on Saturday which the member was invited to but which she did not attend.Brooke van Velden: Why is his Government yet to add the 30 health professions identified in this briefing by the Ministry of Health as experiencing staff shortages to the Green List?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: If the member had read the document that she is in possession of she would see that MBIE had advised the Ministry of Health of the additional professions that they were adding to the Green List. That arose out of confusion on the part of Immigration New Zealand who when they saw the term "specialist physician" did not seem to know what that applied to and were in fact denying specialist physicians of a range of disciplines access to visas under the Green List. That is now in the process of being rectified.Erica Stanford: Why when I asked the Minister last week why gastroenterologists paediatricians and oncologists weren't on the Green List did he say "It's my understanding that they are." given that he was provided with a briefing containing 30 medical specialities not on the Green List including these three specialists; was he wrong or did he not read the briefing correctly?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: No. The member doesn't understand what a specialist physician is. Those roles are specialist physicians and the advice I received was late in the afternoon last Wednesday.Brooke van Velden: Does he agree with Ministry of Health officials that there is a problem when they stated in their briefing to him on 9 November 2022: "There is a risk to the delivery of health services if these professions are not included on the Green List."?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: Yes and I think what the member is not saying presumably for reasons of her own convenience is that many of those disciplines were expected to be candidates for accredited employer work visas on the Green List because they were specialist physicians.Brooke van Velden: If there are actions the Government could take tomorrow to get these 30 professions including dentists nurse practitioners and paramedics into the country why wouldn't the Government just do it?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: This Government has established the Green List to allow ease of access not just to the country but to residency in this country as a way of ensuring that we can fill the gaps that we had. But if you have a look at the experience for example of the visas we've had in place for some time particularly the critical work purpose visa and knowing that we are still admitting to the country now people who were granted those visas at the beginning of the year there is always a lag and so we always have that. When we establish rules and put in place a category called "specialist physician" health professionals understand what that means; immigration officials don't always understand what that means. When we discover that there is a misunderstanding we then seek to rectify it.Erica Stanford: Can he confirm that "specialist physicians not elsewhere classified" refers specifically to Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations code 253399 13 medical specialties not including gastroenterologists paediatricians and oncologists and why did he say that they were on the Green List last week?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: The Green List has a category called "specialist physician". The recommendation of MBIE now is to have a category called "specialist physician with some particular disciplines excluded". When the member asked me the question the category that qualified for admission to the country under the Green List was "specialist physician"; that included gastroenterologists and paediatric specialists which were the two particular disciplines referred to in her question.Hon Michael Wood: Can the Minister confirm that most of the specialist medical roles under discussion will have a residency pathway in New Zealand through the skilled migrant category that the Government opened up last month?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: Yes I can and what I can also confirm to the House is that the Minister of Immigration and I are in regular contact reviewing the data reviewing the numbers of people who are being granted visas on the Green List and off it and we continue to keep that under review.Erica Stanford: Why when I asked him last week why gastroenterologists paediatricians and oncologists weren't on the Green List not mentioning anything to do with specialist physicians did he say that it was "my understanding that they are" and was it in fact him that was confused rather than Immigration New Zealand?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: No the member was confused; I was correct."