Chilling evidence of the Govt’s broken promise

- 81% say cuts have damaged health services

- 86% say cuts will make it harder for people to get healthcare

- 72% agree health is underfunded

The PSA’s survey of nearly 1300 health workers lays out in stark detail how the Government’s promise that its cuts would not impact frontline health services is blatantly false.

Four out of five workers said that cuts and restructuring over the last year had damaged the services they delivered.

Examples of the impacts of the cuts quoted in the comprehensive PSA Report Health Care in Crisis included:

Hiring restrictions mean that we are only able to run our national paediatric clinic at half capacity. This directly impacts children's access to timely healthcare.

Cancer patients are not getting adequate diagnosis to help guide their drug regimen.

We now have nurses and social workers covering receptionist duties which takes them away from clinical duties.

Cutting IT support is effectively cutting frontline healthcare.

"The survey is chilling reading for New Zealanders. It shows that the Government’s repeated claims that cuts would not impact frontline health services are just false," said Fleur Fitzsimons, National Secretary for the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi.

The survey underpinning the report was run between Friday 24 January and Wednesday 29 January and was completed by 1,287 healthcare workers.

"Make no mistake this report makes clear that health is in crisis and Government policies are to blame. We now have stark evidence from health workers who know the system best that funding cuts and the hiring freeze are having a direct impact on services.

"This is a government prepared to put saving dollars ahead of saving lives. Patient care should not be sacrificed to pay for tax cuts for landlords and big tobacco.

"This report is a wake-up call for the new Health Minister Simeon Brown. He needs to listen to what health workers are telling him and advocate for more funding so New Zealanders get the timely, quality care they deserve.

"The stakes are too high for cuts and job losses to continue; that’s why the PSA has taken Health NZ Te Whatu Ora to the Employment Relations Authority to stop these reckless and poorly thought through cuts.

"Enough is enough - health workers say the Government must lift the hiring freeze, fill vacancies urgently and work with unions, and workers to build and fund a health system that provides the care patients need."

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