"Deeply distressing": Health Minister rebuffs 'false' claims around cancer treatment suspensions

The Health Minister says talk of treatment delays at Starship hospital has been blown out of proportion. 

The Auckland children's hospital's confirmed about 20 chemotherapy cycles have been delayed by up to a week due to staffing shortages. 

Simeon Brown says all positions have been recruited for and they'll soon be filled. 

He told Mike Hosking these delays can happen even when the unit is fully staffed. 

Brown says the choice of words being used, including saying treatment has been suspended, is not true and is distressing to families. 

Sources within Starship told the Herald understaffing was causing severe pressure in the oncology ward, claiming they weren't allowed to replace people. 

But Brown told Hosking the empty roles are due to natural attrition. 

He claims they've fully recruited to fill all of them, with those people either in place or soon to be in place. 

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