Today is Health NZ’s first birthday – and not one health metric has improved, National’s Health spokesperson Dr Shane Reti says.

“It has been one year since Labour merged all New Zealand’s 20 DHBs into one mega entity, and the transition has not been smooth. In fact, things are much worse.

“The amount of time sick and injured New Zealanders are waiting for health care has increased, with first specialist appointment and surgical wait lists hitting record highs and emergency department wait times getting longer.

“From July 2022 until the latest available data in April 2023, the first specialist appointment wait list has gone from 37,239 to 56,051 – a 50 per cent increase.

“In the same period, the surgical wait list has gone from 27,780 to 34,662 – almost a 25 per cent increase.

“Unfortunately, it is not possible to compare emergency department wait time data, as Labour has reduced its reporting of it – possibly because the last time the figures were incorrect.

“But this is not the fault of our hard working and dedicated front line staff. This responsibility lies solely with the Labour Government who simply cannot deliver better outcomes for New Zealanders.

“While Labour continues to fail New Zealanders, National has a plan to rebuild our health workforce, to bring back targets and increase funding each and every year and ensure it goes straight to our hard-working front line.”