Three Bay of Plenty election candidates have vowed to fix the public health system, with one saying health workers had gone from being “on their knees” during the Covid-19 pandemic to now being “on the floor”.
About 120 people attended a Meet the Candidates event at Legacy Funerals in Pāpāmoa on Monday night, organised by the Pāpāmoa Residents and Ratepayers Association.
Bay of Plenty National Party candidate Tom Rutherford, Labour Party candidate Pare Taikato, New Zealand First candidate Kirsten Murfitt and Act’s candidate for Tauranga, Christine Young, attended. Young stood in for Bay of Plenty candidate Cameron Luxton.
Each candidate gave a 10-minute speech followed by questions from the audience.
In her speech, Murfitt said she was “concerned about the state of our hospitals” after her husband went to Tauranga Hospital “a couple of weeks ago”.
“He had to wait in the waiting room for 45 minutes before he was taken through and was put on a stretcher in the hallway.”
Murfitt said the doctor “quickly rushed” him to a ward.
“Later that evening, after they tried to send him home, he had a code 777 [emergency call] and if he had not been in hospital, he would not be here today. So I know the issues of our failing hospitals.”
In response to a member’s question in the audience about what candidates would do to fix the health system, Murfitt said New Zealand First would fund St John up to 95 per cent and would look at the “waste” in the health system.
Rutherford said the National Party would “scrap the Māori Health Authority” which created an “unnecessary layer of bureaucracy”.
“We’ll train more nurses and doctors. We have committed to opening a third medical school in the Waikato so that we can have more people on the frontline keeping us safe.”
Rutherford said National would bring back health sector targets “because the best way to hold us accountable is to have something actually to strive for”.
Young told the audience that her friends who worked in the health system said they were “on their knees” during Covid-19.
“Now, they are literally on the floor.”
She said Act would increase the capitation rate for GPs by 13 per cent “so that we can go to see a GP instead of waiting and it doesn’t get so acute that it ends up in hospital”.
Young said there was “so much paperwork, red tape [and] bureaucracy” in the health system.
“Act vows to cut that back so that the frontline staff can get on with it.”
Taikato said Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand and the Māori Health Authority were set up last year to improve the health system by becoming more “efficient” with the delivery of services.
“I can’t say anything more about why it’s taking so long to get through that transition.”
Other issues discussed at the meeting included the cost of living, crime, traffic, co-governance and the unelected Tauranga City Council commissioners.
Young said she was “horrified” at the “amount of wasteful spending that is going on”.
“The current Government spends $1 billion more per week than in 2017 when they first came into government.”
She said $1b was equivalent to the annual salaries of 15,151 nurses or 16,700 police officers.
“In spite of that increased public spending, we’re feeling no better off.”
Rutherford said violent crime in New Zealand had “skyrocketed,” with a ram raid happening every 15 hours.
“It’s time to give the resources to the police that they need to ensure that we can be kept safe in our community.”
Rutherford said National was “committed” to delivering SH29 upgrades over the Kaimāī Range.
“That means our port can connect to the golden triangle of Hamilton and Auckland. That means you can move over there safely... It’ll unlock 20,000 homes in Tauriko West which we so desperately need.”
On the cost of living, Taikato said there was a “global recession” and Labour had introduced measures to “ease the pressures on people’s back pocket”.
This included the winter energy payments and removing the $5 prescription charge, she said.
Taikato said SH2 - the Takitimu Northern Link - and SH29 were being addressed under a Labour Government.
“The investment is being targeted so that we don’t stoke inflation.”
Murfitt said New Zealand First would tackle the cost of living by growing exports and adding value before sending them off-shore.
“We need to look after our people first. We need to give our Kiwi battlers a hand-up, not a hand-out.”
Te Whatu Ora was contacted for a response to Murfitt’s comments.
Megan Wilson is a health and general news reporter for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has been a journalist since 2021.