Shortland Street and money in Health Minister Andrew Little's remedy for health-worker shortage

Health Minister Andrew Little has set out a package of measures to try to woo health workers, ranging from using the Shortland Street television soap to offering financial incentives for overseas doctors and nurses to come over.

Little set out the new plan today, but the Government has not backed down to calls to include nurses in Tier 1 of the immigration Green List, which would give them automatic and immediate residency. Nurses are at Tier 2, so must work as nurses for two years before getting residency.

Little said he had promised that addressing the workforce shortages would be his top priority after the health reforms kicked in at the end of June.

The measures include a recruitment programme to get young people into nursing – which will include a campaign with the television programme Shortland Street as well as on social media platforms. He said it was the first such initiative for Shortland Street, and while he didn't know the details of it, it would see the programme "assist in promoting nursing as a fantastic career".

He said he was not aware of any payment for that agreement.

Other measures aimed at getting overseas doctors and nurses to migrate to New Zealand include payments of up to $10,000 for nurses to take the steps required for registration in New Zealand, and a six-month bridging programme for doctors, including paying their salaries for induction courses and internships.

Little said those payments would remove the cost barriers for migrant health workers wanting to come and make the move as easy as possible.

Health NZ will also set up a one-stop service to help recruit migrant health professionals and steer them through the immigration process and training and registration needs.

Little said Health NZ was cleared to recruit into 1980 roles, including nearly 1200 nursing positions.

Asked why nurses were not put on the Green List, Little said that already 7000 health professionals, including 3200 nurses, had registered interest from overseas. "So I don't think we are going to have difficulty recruiting nurses, or any other health professionals, whether it's midwives or others, from offshore."

There is a shortage of about 3000 nurses and a bid to get former nurses back off the bench in New Zealand will include $5000 funding to reregister – an expansion of an existing programme that will now also include those wanting to work part-time.

There are also moves to boost the numbers of those training as GPs, nurse practitioners, and funding to increase numbers of radiology registrars – the latter a bid to address the current waiting time to get cancer diagnoses.

Little has been under siege over winter as hospitals and other health facilities have battled with sick staff, high patient numbers and staff shortages in many areas.

Those who trained up to work on the Covid-19 vaccination programme are also being encouraged to take on other roles in health.

Little acknowledged it had been a bad winter and there were long-standing shortages.

"We know we've had workforce challenges in terms of vacancies we've had to fill for some time. So it's never too late to get on with it. In terms of planning for this winter, we planned for a very difficult winter. I think it's probably fair to say it's worse than we expected."

However, he said the health reforms, which abolished multiple district health boards and set up the Health NZ and Maori Health Authority structure, meant a far more streamlined approach was now possible for recruiting and boosting the workforce.

"We have a system that is much better able to do a much better job of filling those long-standing vacancies."

While a wage gap still existed between New Zealand and Australia – which is also seeking to recruit nurses – Little said wages had increased significantly since 2017, and would go up by a further $10,000 - $12,000 once a pay equity deal was signed.

He said New Zealand remained an attractive place for people to live and work, and there had been about 7000 expressions of interest for health roles.