YesWeCare.nz

Press release for immediate release

Saturday 19 August 930am

Protest at Prime Minister’s Dunedin Hospital visit

100 life-sized cut-outs of missing health workers will greet Prime Minister Bill English and Health Minister Jonathan Coleman when they visit Dunedin hospital today, says YesWeCare.nz

The short-notice protest will be held from 1030am outside the Psychiatric Services Building on Great King Street.

Hospital staff says they were notified late last night that English and Coleman’s would visit between 1030am to 1130am today.

A separate equal pay event will be held from 11am at the Dunedin Exchange.

YesWeCare.nz coalition coordinator Simon Oosterman says it will include mental health support workers Coleman excluded from the recent historic equal pay settlement.

Oosterman say each cut-out represents 300 staff missing from New Zealand’s health system due to Government underfunding.

“The lack of staffing and resources at Southern DHB is a symptom of the Government’s $2.3b of health underfunding,” he says. “That’s the equivalent of 30,000 missing staff and an immeasurable number of people missing out on the care they need, when they need it.”

Oosterman says funding hasn’t kept up with our ageing and growing population with increased mental health needs.

According to a YesWeCare.nz survey in March, nine in 10 people working in health in Southern DHB felt they didn’t have the staff or resources to provide Kiwis the care they need, when they need it.

“There is nothing more distressing for someone working in health than to see someone they could care for, but can’t, simply due to underfunding,” he says.

30,000 staff missing:

4,300 Doctors
13,200 Nurses
5,900 Allied
1,500 Support staff
5,000 Admin
400 Qualified ambulance offices.

Allied staff include Social Workers, Psychologists and Scientists.

ENDS

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