Health New Zealand contradicted the Government’s spin that back-office bureaucracy is the cause of overspend in the public health system.

“The Prime Minister and his Minister of Health Shane Reti have claimed there is ‘plenty of money’ for Health New Zealand, but we know the organisation has been in trouble since National ignored officials on budget increase advice, and didn’t allocate sufficient funding in the Budget,” Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said.

“Health New Zealand revealed it was pay equity and the increased number of nurses that led to overspend. This contradicts the Minister’s claim that back-office staff are the cause of cost overruns and shows chaos between the Beehive and health leadership.

“The Government is launching a programme of health cuts because it has underfunded the health system.

“Every day we hear from clinicians that frontline roles are going unfilled.

“The Prime Minister and the Minister of Health launched their attack yesterday, but as we’ve seen in the last day, their spin doesn’t stand up to scrutiny,” Ayesha Verrall said.