5. Question No. 5—HealthDr SHANE RETI (Deputy Leader—National) to the Minister of HealthQuestion No. 5—Health5. Dr SHANE RETI (Deputy Leader—National) to the Minister of Health: Does he stand by his statements and actions around hospital resources?Hon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister of Health): Yes. In particular I stand by this Government's action to record a record investment in the health system of more than $24 billion in Budget 2021. I note that this is 45 percent or $7.6 billion higher than the National Government spent on health in its last year in Government.Dr Shane Reti: Why according to the Ministry of Health do we have fewer ICU beds today than we did at the end of lockdown in May last year?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: I'm not sure where that member gets his figures from and it doesn't accord with figures I have received. Right now we have about 240-odd ICU beds available throughout the hospital network in New Zealand. That can be very quickly stepped up to about 326 beds and with a little bit of extra effort can be surge stepped up to 550 beds. I'm confident that we can have ICU cover to meet any surge outbreak in COVID should that arise.Dr Shane Reti: How many ICU beds were available at the end of lockdown in May last year?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: I don't have that figure available to me but I do know that as a consequence of a review of the management of lockdown responses last year the Ministry of Health supported DHBs to work on a programme to fund additional staff training so more nurses were capable of working in an ICU environment. They funded additional ventilators and they also worked with DHBs to provide more space including negative pressure rooms to manage the response to COVID.Dr Shane Reti: Does he stand by his answer to written questions that a request from Auckland DHB to build negative pressure rooms prior to the latest outbreak was declined in favour of another project and if so what was the other project?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: I think the member is talking in cryptic terms. I'm not quite sure what he's getting at. What I do know is that Counties Manukau DHB for example did actually invest in additional space. That's why they have the available ward space for treating COVID patients in the way that they do. I know that Auckland DHB invested in equipment or at least in furnishings for some of their wards so that they could manage COVID patients and I know that Waitematā DHB is able to manage COVID patients safely as well.Dr Shane Reti: Point of order Mr Speaker. I seek leave to table a written parliamentary question that's not in public domain to my understanding that demonstrates that the ministry did turn down a request to build negative pressure rooms.SPEAKER: I'll put that to the House. Is there any objection to that? There is no objection to that. But I will at the same time remind the member of Speakers' ruling 183/3 which requires the member if he is to ask a specific supplementary not to ask a general first question. Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.Dr Shane Reti: Does he stand by his answer to written questions that in the four months since the Government's public sector pay restraint announcement in May the number of ICU nurses leaving Auckland ICU increased sevenfold compared to the same period the previous year?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: What I can say is that it is correct that the turnover of nurses across a range of disciplines in hospitals has increased particularly in Auckland. That is a fact.Dr Shane Reti: Are hospitals building negative pressure rooms during an outbreak and urgently seeking ICU nurses because he has been focused on health restructuring instead of preparing our hospitals?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: I draw the member's attention to an earlier answer I gave which was that the programme to adapt more of our hospitals to effective responses to COVID started last year following a review of last year's COVID lockdowns. Hospitals have built or at least equipped additional space on their premises to respond to COVID. They have trained more nurses; roughly 1400 more nurses have been trained to work in an ICU environment compared to August last year.Hon Member: Then why did we ask for 30 urgent ones?SPEAKER: I don't ask anything.