News today that the emergency department at Waikato has turned 180 patients away is another crisis for the Government and its besieged health system, says Labour’s Health spokesperson David Clark.

“It’s astonishing that the Government has had to rely on the private sector to take these patients that were turned away from the hospital over the past two and a half weeks.

National’s campaign of tax cuts that give $400 million to the top 10 per cent of earners, at a time when 120 Kiwi kids every year are being hospitalised for malnutrition, shows they have lost their moral compass, says Labour’s Social Development spokesperson Carmel Sepuloni.

“It is shameful that in a modern country that the rate of children who are in hospital due to malnourishment has doubled in the time that National has largely been in power.

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman must apologise for his part in a $2.3 billion shortfall that has contributed to delays in cancer diagnosis and treatment, says Labour’s Health spokesperson David Clark.

“All the Minister could say in an interview this morning is that ‘funding might have helped but it wouldn’t have averted it.’ This is just a nonsense.

From increased GP fees, to kids getting sick from cold homes, to denial of important surgeries, National’s underfunding of health has hurt Kiwi families, says Leader of the Opposition Jacinda Ardern.

“It’s time to invest in the health of our families. If we want action on health, we need a Labour Government.

National’s promise to increase the number of elective surgeries to 200,000 is bizarre, given Jonathan Coleman has claimed 200,000 electives are already being performed, says Labour’s Health spokesperson David Clark.

Labour will start construction on a new Dunedin Hospital in the city centre in Labour’s first term, says the Leader of the Opposition Jacinda Ardern.

“We will build the new hospital without a Public Private Partnership (PPP) and it will be rebuilt within existing funds.

The Prime Minister owes the public of Otago and Southland an apology and then he must come up with an unredacted copy of the business case for the Dunedin hospital rebuild, says Labour’s Health spokesperson David Clark.

"For too long the interests of protecting evidence of Government incompetence has prevailed over the public's right to know what decisions are being made, and how.

Children in Canterbury and Kaikoura will get dedicated mental health support to help them overcome the trauma of the earthquakes, says the Leader of the Opposition Jacinda Ardern.

“We’ll fund an extra eighty mental health professionals for the next three years who will work in all public primary and intermediate schools. This will mean that there will be a full-time mental health professional for every 500 school children in Canterbury.

Labour’s commitment to affordable access to high quality healthcare will provide a better service for New Zealanders than the current Health Minister, who will not apologise for statements that he made that wrongly criticised hard-working staff in the Southern DHB’s Dunedin Hospital site, says Labour’s Health spokesperson David Clark.

"Today's exchange in Parliament showed how out of touch the Minister really is, revealing he was unfamiliar with statements in a letter about orthopaedic shortfalls sent directly to him by concerned clinicians.

Basic blunders and chronic underfunding revealed in Treasury documents obtained by Labour clearly show Health Minister Jonathan Coleman has lost control of his ministry, says Labour’s Health spokesperson David Clark.

“Every New Zealander deserves affordable access to quality healthcare but that basic right is being eroded by chronic underfunding and mistakes that tie up resources.