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Otago Daily Times
2 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Business case flawed: Brooking
The release of a "flawed" business case means more information is needed before Labour decides whether it would dump the planned Waikato Medical School, a Dunedin MP says. Last Monday, Health Minister Simeon Brown announced Cabinet had approved $82.85 million in government funding to build the country's third medical school at the University of Waikato — the institution was expected to contribute more than $150m to the project. Dunedin MP Rachel Brooking, of Labour, said she was "very sceptical" about figures used by the government to make its decision. The project's detailed business case was made public on Friday evening, part of a document dump which revealed the cost of producing GPs at the graduate-entry Waikato medical school would be $50 million a year cheaper than at the existing medical schools at Otago and Auckland universities. "The business case has really been written with an outcome in mind and not traversed all of the options, and that's just bad decision-making," Ms Brooking said. "It's bad way to make use of taxpayers' money, and it seems that in general, this all will cost more." She said the "flawed" business case would have consequences for the Otago Medical School: "those are difficult to predict exactly". However, Labour had "no plans at the moment" to dump the medical school, Ms Brooking said. "The issue is that we don't think the business case is credible. "So we'll keep asking questions about that and try and make any assessments on good information when we're in a position to do so." Taieri MP Ingrid Leary said "the so-called business case is really just a public relations document, given the outlandish assumptions and comparators". In a statement last Monday, Mr Brown said the project was an innovative model "that supports our focus on strengthening primary care, making it easier for people to see their doctor — helping Kiwis stay well and out of hospital". Waikato University would begin construction on new teaching facilities later this year. A full cost-benefit analysis was presented to Cabinet before any proposal was finalised, as part of the National-Act New Zealand coalition agreement, he said. Green MP Francisco Hernandez said the government's cost-benefit analysis used to "ram through" the Waikato Medical School made assumptions revealing the "lack of objectivity". Mr Hernandez said the document "falsely assumed" Otago and Auckland universities could not have negotiated a four-year rural graduate programme similar to Waikato University's proposal. "This assumption enables the government to claim that Waikato University will train medical students 'cheaper' because Waikato is assumed to have a four-year programme," he said. The government had also assumed Waikato University was more likely to produce GPs "even though Otago and Auckland could have also done a rural graduate programme". "Fundamentally, these flawed assumptions stem from the government's failure to run a transparent tender process from the start," Mr Hernandez said. "Rather than putting out an open tender to every university in New Zealand, they gave Waikato University a sweetheart deal." He called for the government to "be up front and honest about the actual costs" of the project and release the full agreement with Waikato University with all relevant advice. "The government's failure to rule out further handouts or to release the actual agreement raises questions on whether there were further sweetheart deals negotiated behind closed doors in the agreement that might end up with the taxpayer bailing out Waikato University."
Otago Daily Times
5 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Less than half of recent nursing graduates employed by Heath NZ
Nursing students and recent graduates say they are being "failed" by Health NZ, which has employed just 45% of mid-year graduates. Health NZ figures show just 323 of 722 applicants have got jobs in hospitals through its Advanced Choice of Employment Mid-Year matching process. Co-president of the Nurses Organisation student unit, Bianca Grimmer - who is set to graduate at the end of the year - said it was "really discouraging". "It's certainly affecting all of our cohorts from year one to year three, lot of uncertainty and students wondering if they continue with their degree or look at finding a job somewhere else. "Te Whatu Ora used to hire 80-90% of all graduates. We were blindsided this time last year when only three in every five mid-year graduates were hired. This year is even worse." Health NZ said for the mid-year matching process, there were 173 applications from graduates who were still looking for jobs after graduating at the end of last year. National Chief Nurse Nadine Gray said those who did not get hospital jobs were placed in the talent pool, which was open to all registered employers across the health sector. In recent years, the majority of initially unmatched applicants had successfully secured positions from the talent pool with about 84% of nurses eventually finding roles in both 2023 and 2024. "Graduate RNs [registered nurses] often look to hospitals for their first role, and while we are working to employ as many graduate RNs as possible, I want to encourage students to look right across the health system when looking for their first job." The government was investing in expanding and strengthening the nursing workforce in primary and community care, Gray said. The investment includes: $30 million over five years to fund 400 graduate nurses into primary and community care each year, with providers receiving $15,000 for employing a nurse in an urban setting and $20,000 in a rural setting. $34.2 million over five years to fund 120 nurse practitioner training places in primary care each year from 2026. An additional $21.6 million over four years to accelerate advanced tertiary education for up to 120 primary care registered nurses annually. The Nurses Organisation said a recent survey of 1246 nursing students found 62% would consider seeking a nursing job overseas if they were unable to get a new graduate job in Aotearoa New Zealand. This increased to 73% for Māori students. Bianca Grimmer said nursing students recently attended a jobs expo where Australian recruiters were offering graduates better wages and conditions. "We have a health system in crisis and desperately need more homegrown nurses. With 30,000 Kiwis leaving for Australia in the past year, this short-sighted decision by Te Whatu Ora will see more graduate nurses packing their bags." About 36,000 of NZNO's Te Whatu Ora members are preparing for a 24-hour national strike on July 30 after Collective Agreement negotiations stalled. The union said Health NZ's "refusal to commit to its obligation to employ new graduates" was one of the sticking points.
RNZ News
5 days ago
- RNZ News
Nursing students, graduates say they are being 'failed' by Health NZ
National Chief Nurse Nadine Gray says those who do not get hospital jobs are placed in the talent pool. Photo: 123RF Nursing students and recent graduates say they are being "failed" by Health NZ, which has employed just 45 percent of mid-year graduates. Health NZ figures show just 323 of 722 applicants have got jobs in hospitals through its Advanced Choice of Employment Mid-Year matching process. Co-president of the Nurses Organisation student unit, Bianca Grimmer - who is set to graduate at the end of the year - said it was "really discouraging". "It's certainly affecting all of our cohorts from year one to year three, lot of uncertainty and students wondering if they continue with their degree or look at finding a job somewhere else. "Te Whatu Ora used to hire 80-90 percent of all graduates. We were blindsided this time last year when only three in every five mid-year graduates were hired. This year is even worse." Health NZ said for the mid-year matching process, there were 173 applications from graduates who were still looking for jobs after graduating at the end of last year. National Chief Nurse Nadine Gray said those who did not get hospital jobs were placed in the talent pool, which was open to all registered employers across the health sector. In recent years, the majority of initially unmatched applicants had successfully secured positions from the talent pool with about 84 percent of nurses eventually finding roles in both 2023 and 2024. "Graduate RNs [registered nurses] often look to hospitals for their first role, and while we are working to employ as many graduate RNs as possible, I want to encourage students to look right across the health system when looking for their first job." The government was investing in expanding and strengthening the nursing workforce in primary and community care, Gray said. The Nurses Organisation said a recent survey of 1246 nursing students found 62 percent would consider seeking a nursing job overseas if they were unable to get a new graduate job in Aotearoa New Zealand. This increased to 73 percent for Māori students. Bianca Grimmer said nursing students recently attended a jobs expo where Australian recruiters were offering graduates better wages and conditions. "We have a health system in crisis and desperately need more homegrown nurses. With 30,000 Kiwis leaving for Australia in the past year, this short-sighted decision by Te Whatu Ora will see more graduate nurses packing their bags." About 36,000 of NZNO's Te Whatu Ora members are preparing for a 24-hour national strike on 30 July after Collective Agreement negotiations stalled. The union said Health NZ's "refusal to commit to its obligation to employ new graduates" was one of the sticking points. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
