Anne Daniels, President
NZNO Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa

Putting ones’ head in the sand is a well-known idiom that suggests that you are ignoring or avoiding something challenging. It alludes to the idea that the ostrich put its head in the sand to ignore danger when, in actual fact, the ostrich was turning the eggs it had laid in a hole in the sand.

The current coalition government is doing both. It is ignoring the realities of the underfunded, under-resourced health system and looking after its own interests.

The Coalition Government is “not responding, or debating, just trying to rewrite history – trying to put a positive spin on a Budget that doesn’t add up …despite significant cuts to the health and other budgets,” Labour MP Kieran McAnulty recently told Parliament.

For those of us who work in the health system, we know unsafe nurse staffing has been exacerbated by this Government’s obsession with cutting costs.

There is a myriad of examples of this truth despite all statements to the contrary:

• Aged care facility proposes cutting 400 hrs/wk from roster 
• Primary Care practices warn of collapse due to staff shortages, funding shortfalls.
• Thames Hospital shortage: Nurses protest against workload and understaffing 
• Wairarapa short-staffed by 40 nurses
• Nursing jobs “ghosted” as Health NZ cuts costs

These truths and many others are being ignored by the current Government and those who are responsible for the health and wellbeing of carers and the cared for.
Minister of Health Dr Shane Reti was the opening speaker at last week’s NZNO Annual General Meeting.

In introducing Dr Reti, I asked him to have a direct conversation with the NZNO delegates – who represent you, our 62,000 members – about the underfunding and unsafe staffing realities they face every day. Instead, he told us we had to do more with less to meet his health targets within existing resourcing.  He then left before any conversation could be had.

Despite the ‘head in the sand’ approach by those who govern, our story must be one of hope, not despair and told to those who will listen and act, the people, our people.

The first day of bargaining for the Te Whatu Ora collective contract, covering 35,000 of our members, began on Wednesday. One of our most important claims to address the nurse and midwife workforce crisis, is nurse patient ratios that are culturally appropriate (2024 Claims – Maranga Mai (nzno.org.nz).

We know the problems, but we also know the solutions. Nurse and patient outcomes improve when nurse to patient ratio legislation (underpinned by a fit for purpose Care Capacity Demand Management system) is implemented. The evidence is strong and irrefutable:

• Effects of nurse-to-patient ratio legislation on nurse staffing and patient mortality, readmissions, and length of stay: a prospective study in a panel of hospitals (nih.gov)
• More nurses save lives and reap significant economic benefits (IND 2024)

Our Tōpūtanga Topuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa/NZNO Maranga Mai! strategy calls for “every member, everywhere to act”. 

If we want change, then we all need to use the power of the biggest health union in the country to make the change happen.

When the call for all NZNO members goes out to stand up and fight back, to stand on the picket line, to march in the protest, to stop doing overtime or extra shifts, to go on strike, to act – we must all be there.

We will win when we rise up together. Maranga Mai!