Election 2023: Labour and National at odds over whether funding exists for Hawke’s Bay Hospital

Catherine Wedd, the National Party's Tukituki candidate, said Labour's $1.1 billion election promise for a new hospital was "desperate". Photo / Warren Buckland

National Party health spokesperson Dr Shane Reti can’t commit to a new hospital for Hawke’s Bay, and says he’s not sure Labour has either.

Labour announced last week that, should it be returned to government following the October 14 election, it will provide funding of $700 million to $1.1 billion for a new or re-developed Hawke’s Bay Hospital.

News of the proposed funding was a coup for Labour’s Tukituki electorate MP Anna Lorck, who’s campaigned on a new hospital in recent months.

However, Lorck’s main opponent for Tukituki, National’s Catherine Wedd, described the hospital funding announcement as “desperate” and said voters could have little confidence in Labour actually delivering on it.

Lorck says Wedd should spend less time “attacking me” and more on committing to a hospital for Hawke’s Bay.

Chris Hipkins and Anna Lorck (right) on the campaign trail in Hastings on Friday. Photo / Warren Buckland

“She needs to get out of the weeds and focus on the serious issues,” Lorck said.

“I’ve got action from Labour and, when it comes to building our new hospital, the right thing for National is to front up with $1.1 billion too.”

Reti says the need for a new hospital in Hawke’s Bay is obvious. As is his want to fund one.

Should National be elected in October, Reti says he will be seeking answers about how far the business case for the hospital has progressed and if money has actually been allocated to it “on day one”.

Labour says the business case for a new hospital will begin during its “first 100 days” back in office, and that’s the bit that worries Reti, when it comes to giving a commitment from National.

“How you can announce funding when you don’t have the business case and know how much it’s going to cost is kind of interesting,” Reti said.

“It’s all about the business case. The business case describes how much it will actually cost, it sets a timeframe, it sets what’s called realisable benefits: will it meet the ED [emergency department] targets? How future-proofed is it?

National Party health spokesperson Dr Shane Reti.

“And that’s the final business case too, not the indicative business case, so let’s make sure we’re talking about the right things. The difference between indicative and final business case can be years, so we need to understand exactly what step in motion they’re talking about with the business case.”

The breadth of the $700m to $1.1b in proposed funding leads Reti to suspect the final business case is some way off. In this instance, he believes it could be up to two years before that can be confirmed and an actual project announced.

“This is an announcement with all the detail still to be determined,” said Reti of Labour’s plan.

“But none of that changes my intent for Hawke’s Bay Hospital. It’s a high priority, it needs to be done.”

Wedd, meanwhile, said she didn’t want to get into a slinging match with Lorck, instead focusing on National’s plans around labour shortages.

“We have extensive policies to attract, train and retain nurses and doctors for provincial New Zealand,” Wedd said.

“This includes a third medical school which is specifically targeted for training doctors for regions like Hawke’s Bay.”