Last night’s warnings from doctors at Wairau Hospital that patients may die if they don’t get more staff is yet another example of the damage National’s hiring freeze has done to our health system.

“For two years, nurses have warned about severe staffing shortages, while hospitals have been blocked from filling vacant positions,” Labour health spokesperson Dr Ayesha Verrall said.

“The situation is now so bad that staff at four hospitals have declared states of emergency; Tauranga, North Shore, Middlemore and Waitākere hospitals.

“Simeon Brown is responsible for this mess. He’s admitted National hired just 54 nurses in two years, while fewer than half of our graduate nurses are being offered jobs. We’re training nurses we can’t afford to lose, only to see them forced to look for work in Australia.

“Patients and their families are paying the price for Simeon Brown’s failures. Children with cancer at Starship Hospital have had treatment delayed. Patients have been left in soiled beds. Nurses and doctors are working in conditions they describe as an ‘absolute nightmare’.

“Labour will end the hiring freeze and guarantee every eligible graduate nurse a job, so New Zealanders get the care they deserve. That’s around 2,400 nurses every year, starting their careers here at home.

“We will also double the recruitment subsidy for nurses in primary care, so people can get care closer to home and stay out of hospital.

“New Zealanders can’t afford another three years of National’s cuts,” Dr Ayesha Verrall said.