Increasing health workforce shortages and strikes lay squarely at the feet of Health Minister Andrew Little, National’s Health spokesperson Dr Shane Reti says.

“Last week, radiation physicists and technicians who manage cancer patients issued strike notices. This week thousands of lab workers and Covid-19 contact tracers have voted to strike.

“Andrew Little is so out of touch with the healthcare workforce that he didn’t even know that 10,000 of them decided to go on strike when asked about it by journalists. He has also failed to deliver the “safe staffing” accord which was promised to nurses last year, to protect them from over working.

“If the Minister was focused on getting nurses into the country and delivering front line health services, instead of ramming through a $486 million health restructure in the middle of a pandemic, many of the workforce shortages and safety issues could have been avoided.

“Data recently released to the National Party show that there are currently 2,200 vacant nursing positions across the country. It’s no wonder that the health workforce is feeling immense pressure.

“He has failed our health workforce, who have worked so hard to keep us safe over the last few years, and has actively undermined them in favour of his dangerous and disruptive health restructure.”

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