McKinnon warns of nursing shortage

Press, 21 October 1989, Page 2

McKinnon warns of nursing shortage

PA Wellington New Zealand is facing a severe shortage of nurses because the Government has cut funding to area health boards and raised student education fees, the Opposition spokesman on health, Mr Don McKinnon, warned yesterday. Accusing the Government of “a cruel hoax,” he said none of the cash raised by the student fee increase would go into the training of health professionals.

“The fact is that by lowering the funding to area health boards and hospitals there is less money to employ nurses,” he told a meeting of student nurses in Auckland.

If the Government was intent on reducing hospital waiting lists — which he said had increased 43 per cent in five years to 60,000 — it would need more staff.

“Yet under this levy there will not be the nurses in training when they are required.”

Mr McKinnon said nurses would drop out when tuition fees increased next year because they could not afford them on top of other expenses. He gave these figures to the meeting:

• In Christchurch 29 first and second-year student nurses were unlikely to return next year.

• In the Waikato many were experiencing hardship and three second-year student nurses were selling their houses to help cover

education costs. • In Northland 12 second-year student nurses could not afford to return and 31 would be under extreme difficulty. Out of 32 first-year students, four could not afford to return and 16 would have difficulty.

• At Manukau Technical Institute about 50 per cent might withdraw from nursing.

• In Otago 30 for each year of training might be able to continue.