Christopher Luxon promises more frontline health workers for Hawke’s Bay, ‘can’t commit’ to new hospital

National leader Christopher Luxon told crowds at the Municipal Theatre in Napier on Friday night about National's plan to help fix Hawke's Bay's healthcare system. Photo / Paul Taylor

National will focus on getting more frontline medical staff into regional New Zealand hospitals, but leader Christopher Luxon is shying away from making commitments to a new hospital for Hawke’s Bay.

It’s a contrast to the campaign promises of previous National Tukituki MP Lawrence Yule and the 2020 National Opposition, which vowed to spend an estimated $400-$500 million to rebuild Hawke’s Bay Hospital.

“We have some real challenges with the healthcare budget,” Luxon told Hawke’s Bay Today on Friday.

“I can’t commit to building a brand-new hospital until I see the state of the books on the other side, and they are deteriorating.”

He said the focus from his government would be geared towards frontline staff instead, with more funding and incentives for frontline medical staff.

“It’s a challenging one, healthcare, because we never have what we need. If the country was four times wealthier, we would still have issues and challenges that we would want to solve.

“We have to get the money out of the bureaucracy to the frontline, we have to put targets back in place and we have to build back the workforce.”

As part of this, Luxon said National would focus on retaining nurses with the incentives in lieu of a five-year bond to NZ Healthcare, as well as three new medical schools.

“The third medical school will be focused on regional New Zealand.

“A trainee doctor over a four-year programme will come here to Hawke’s Bay, work in Hawke’s Bay Hospital and train here. We know the research says that you would get socially attached here and you end up becoming a GP or a doctor at the local hospital.”

He said fixing the healthcare system was a “step process”: getting doctors and nurses into regional New Zealand, and then focusing on building and renovating hospitals.

Te Whatu Ora confirmed last month the Government had included Hawke’s Bay in its regional hospital redevelopment programme (RHRP).

Labour’s Tukituki MP Anna Lorck, who has advocated for a new hospital during her tenure, said serious work on the feasibility and clinical services plans was already under way.

“This critical front-end work would set up the first stage of what will be the single greatest infrastructure project for our region,” she said.

“At the same time, we must invest on urgently upgrading the existing ICU and ED departments so that there are facilities that can keep working and meet demand while the rebuild progresses.”

Lorck said she was confident she was being heard at a national level.

“Hawke’s Bay deserves our new regional hospital, [which] will provide world-class health and hospital facilities.”

Mitchell Hageman joined Hawke’s Bay Today in late January. From his Napier base, he writes regularly on social issues, arts and culture, and the community.