Labour would keep National's health targets, and says some 'free GP' visits could be with nurse practitioners

Labour would keep the coalition's five health targets if it wins the 7 November election. It has also conceded that some of the three free "GP" visits it is promising could be with a nurse practitioner rather than a doctor.

Both positions came from Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall in a debate with National's Simeon Brown on RNZ's Morning Report on 21 October, the day after Labour released its emergency department plan.

"We're going to keep the targets, but what we won't do is set the targets and then not resource the health system by not hiring any more nurses in order to deliver them. That's negligent," Verrall said.

The health union APEX, in a party policy summary dated 9 October, already described Labour's offer as "three free GP visits (doctor or nurse) a year for every New Zealander, via new Medicard system". The New Zealand Medical Journal's election editorial called them three free GP consultations.

Verrall said Labour would bring in "efficiency improvements", such as a triage system to cut acute demand, to help GPs cope with the extra visits. According to APEX, Labour says it can free up more than 4.5 million GP appointments a year through phone triage, technology support and targeted funding.

Brown said the policy would "clog up" the health system. "Show us the modelling!" he said of the 4.5 million figure. Verrall replied: "What a scare tactic."

The NZMJ editorial makes a similar point to Brown's. "Removing patient charges will increase demand," it says, and "making a service free does not make it accessible without a workforce."

Asked how he would ease pressure on GPs, Brown pointed to the new Waikato medical school, which he said would train another 120 doctors a year from 2028. The NZMJ says the school is under construction and its first cohort of 120 graduate-entry students is planned for 2028. That is the year students start, not the year they graduate, and graduates would then need years of further training before working as GPs.

Nurses

Presenter Ingrid Hipkiss put it to Brown that the number of full-time nurses rose by just 54 between March 2024 and March 2026. Brown replied that the government was recruiting 2400 nursing vacancies "right now", and said the number of doctors fell by 130 when Verrall was minister.

Verrall accused the coalition of a "deliberate policy of freezing nursing hiring" and said Labour would end the "hiring freeze". Verrall did not give a target for growing the nurse workforce.

Health NZ, in its October highlights, says it announced 380 extra nursing, midwifery and healthcare assistant full-time-equivalent roles in late September. Ninety-four of them are new emergency department positions.

Verrall also had a pledge for care workers: they "deserve a pay rise, and they'll get one under Labour." She did not say how much.

Starship

Brown called cancer treatment delays at Starship children's hospital "incredibly distressing". He said 70 percent of shifts were understaffed when Verrall was health minister, and that "Health New Zealand has recruited every single one of those vacancies". Verrall said those figures were not brought to her attention.

Health NZ's October highlights do not say how many Starship cancer-ward nursing posts were filled or when the new staff start.

Results

Brown cited "a 41 percent reduction in number of people waiting for an elective surgery for more than four months". He added: "By no means is the health system fixed, but we are heading in the right direction."

Health NZ reports a different measure. It says 72.6 percent of patients got elective treatment within four months in 2025/26, up from 63.9 percent. It also says it improved on all five health targets, with 76.3 percent of emergency department patients admitted, discharged or transferred within six hours, up from 73.9 percent.

Brown said Labour's funding plan hits a "fiscal cliff" in year four. Verrall called that "a lie". "Year on year, Labour will invest more in healthcare than National," she said.

Neither would commit to funding new weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic. Both said that was Pharmac's call. Brown said National had committed an extra $604m over four years to Pharmac, taken from foreign aid. Verrall called that "incredibly manipulative", because NZ First leader Winston Peters had already ruled out redirecting the money.