Labour pledges urgent review of hospital wait times, bed shortages

Labour is pledging to carry out an immediate review of hospital wait times and bed shortages if elected to form the next Government. 

The party says it’ll also look into deaths and safety issues linked to long waits in Emergency Departments. 

Leader Chris Hipkins made the announcement in Auckland this morning alongside health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. 

“Patients are waiting too long, emergency departments are overcrowded, and nurses and doctors are under enormous pressure. Labour has a plan to fix it,” Hipkins said. 

“National has hired just 54 nurses in two years while hospitals struggle to cope and newly qualified nurses can’t find jobs. That’s not good enough. 

“Labour will get more nurses into the health system, make it easier to see a GP, get patients into hospital beds faster and help more people get urgent care close to home,” Hipkins said. 

Verrall said they will order an immediate report identifying hospital beds that could be opened “with the right staffing”, and “make hospitals accountable for getting patients the care they need”. 

“Serious delays in ED often happen because there is a lack of beds in hospital wards, creating a backlog in the emergency room,” Verrall said. 

“Labour will stop avoidable delays. We’ll tackle staffing and discharge bottlenecks, prepare hospitals for winter before demand surges, and fund teams to help older people recover safely at home.” 

Labour’s plan has four priorities: 

• Moving patients through hospital faster. 
• Getting people the right care in the right place. 
• Keeping people healthy and out of hospital. 
• Stronger leadership from day one. 

Verrall said not everyone who needs urgent care needs a hospital, so Labour will also train more extended-care paramedics to treat people safely at home or in the community, connect frontline health professionals with urgent-care and emergency specialists, and help people access the medicines they need. 

“We’ll also tackle the pressure before people reach the emergency department. Three free GP visits a year through our Medicard, free prescriptions, more GP appointments and more local clinics will help people get treatment earlier, before manageable health problems become emergencies. 

“We’ll end National’s hiring freeze and guarantee every eligible New Zealand-trained graduate nurse a job in our health system. Around 2,400 graduates a year will be offered work, with roles available from 2027,” Verrall said.