Source: New Zealand Nurses Organisation
The $25 million 2026 Winter Plan launched by Health Minister Simeon Brown in March to erase pressure on the health system has been an unmitigated disaster, Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO says.
The Minister’s winter plan promised 378 FTEs, 71 extra winter hospital beds across key hospitals, 567 short stay beds through aged residential care facilities, expanded telehealth services, expansion of urgent and after-hours care clinic hours, and working with pharmacies to treat more minor conditions.
NZNO delegate and Waikato Hospital emergency nurse Tracy Chisholm says members are asking: “Where was the plan?” as there was very little sign of it this winter.
“In the Waikato Hospital Emergency Department (ED) the situation is worse than ever, even culminating in the tragic death of a patient in the waiting room toilet. Across the country it is no different. Look at hospitals in North Shore, Auckland, Gisborne, Christchurch, Whakatane and Wellington. The list goes on. Virtually every ED is working over capacity this winter with waiting times consistently running into double-digit hours.
“The promised rapid ward still hasn’t eventuated. There is no sign of the extra beds. We still have bed block and non-urgent patients taking up space in ED.
“We are going to lose ED staff because they can’t go on with this amount of pressure. Christchurch ED nurse Keziah Jones who has been in the news recently is not an isolated case.”
So, what do nurses suggest as a solution to this crisis?
Tracy Chisholm says the plan failed to address the fundamental issues impacting delivery of care – infrastructure and staffing.
“The greatest problem we have right now is chronic understaffing. Plans like the Minister’s failed one for the winter only intensifies the problem.
“There was no proper consultation with frontline health care workers before the plan was implemented. Instead of hiring workers who can actually assist patients waiting for hours they have hired managers in new roles who are clock chasing just to meet targets.
“The plan did not strike at the root cause of the problem. It fails to address existing staffing issues that are seriously undermining the standard of care in our hospitals.”