43396 (2024). Hon Dr Ayesha Verrall to the Minister of Health

43396 (2024). Hon Dr Ayesha Verrall to the Minister of Health: How would the Minister reduce the pressures on budgeted expenditure levels caused by ‘settlement of collective agreements above budgeted levels, unfunded impact of pay equity, and Holidays Act payments on leave revaluations’ while maintaining his policy ambitions of 'increasing and retaining' the health workforce?

Hon Dr Shane Reti: I am confident that Budget 2024 has provided cost pressure funding at a level that will provide Health New Zealand with the means to meet expected expenditure growth while also meeting my aims as laid out in the Government Policy Statement (GPS) for health. The issues referenced in the question are operational matters that Health NZ deals with on an on-going basis.