Health Minister Andrew Little’s stubborn refusal to get nurses the same immigration treatment as multimedia specialists and surveyors means New Zealanders are missing out on health care, National’s Health spokesperson Dr Shane Reti says.

“Minister Little’s latest health announcement was clearly rushed and incomplete. Reducing fees for international nurses to register in New Zealand is great, but won’t make much difference if we can’t attract any to come here in the first place.

“Sadly, Minister Little’s inability to deliver anything he announces in health won’t fill the sector with confidence.

“Minister Little has a terrible track record for international recruitment. Over three months earlier this year he ran a Kiwi Health Jobs recruitment campaign at the cost of $415,000. This campaign only brought in three critical care nurses.

“That is a cost of $138,333 per nurse for this failed campaign.

“Instead of working on a TV drama, Minster Little should have been going to Cabinet to demand nurses were put on the straight to residency pathway like they are in Australia. By continuing to ignore the desperate pleas from everyone in the sector to do this, the Minister is showing just how out of touch and arrogant he has become.

“If Minister Little had listened to the DHB’s warnings over a year ago and spent less time and resources ramming through a disruptive health restructure, the health workforce shortage we are facing today wouldn’t be as severe and Kiwis wouldn’t be missing out on health care as a result.

“A more fitting storyline for Shortland Street would be an exhausted health workforce feeling unsupported by an incompetent Health Minister.”