Clinicians and patients are being asked to settle for less as Te Whatu Ora concedes it cannot deliver on existing standards of care, the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists – Toi Mata Hauora says.
Nothing in the New Zealand Health Workforce Plan 2024 tackles the fact that many New Zealanders cannot see a doctor when they need one.
Te Whatu Ora’s 2024 Workforce Plan is laced with political double-speak which cannot mask the fact our health system is being asked to do more with too few resources.
“This is a political document,” ASMS Executive Director Sarah Dalton says.
“It is vague, six months late and seems more suited to ticking a box than addressing underlying access and system capacity issues caused by generations of underfunding.”
The plan also cites a need to “bolster workforces in public health” as a priority, at the same time as the Te Whatu Ora is slashing $30 million out of the national public health service budget.
“The plan says that in nine years’ time we need to find an additional 3,450 doctors just to keep our heads above water,” Dalton says.
“But it offers no road map for achieving this – let alone meaningful medical workforce growth.
“Doctors continue to leave New Zealand due to poor working conditions, chronic short-staffing, and the lure of significantly better pay in Australia.
“The Workforce Plan acknowledges that ‘our health workforce goes to extraordinary lengths to deliver care to thousands of New Zealanders.’ Meanwhile, Te Whatu Ora is offering our senior doctors and dentists a real pay cut for Christmas.”