Gisborne hīkoi demands better health funding, highlights staffing crisis

NZ Herald

01-05-2025

Some motorists may have been annoyed by their journey being interrupted but many others tooted their horns to indicate their support for the walkers, banners and chants in favour of more health spending and worker rights.
Members of the public were also involved in the hīkoi.
'I like the level of support and we've gained a whole lot of people as we've walked down the street,' Takoko said.
'They support the kaupapa of having appropriate health funding.'
Health was underfunded, she said.
'We need more doctors; we need more nurses.'
Dr Alex Raines, one of the Gisborne Hospital senior doctors involved in a 24-hour nationwide strike also held on Thursday, was among the speakers at Heipipi/Endeavour Park.
Raines said the hospital had the highest senior doctor vacancy rate in the country – 44%.
'I'm pretty useless at the hospital unless surrounded by all the nurses I work with, the dieticians, the physios and all the other people I work with,' he said.
'When we stand together, that's when we can make a difference.'
Gisborne-based Labour list MP Jo Luxton thanked the audience for turning up 'to fight for something you truly believe in'.
Luxton said she shared 'your frustration, your fear and your deep sense of abandonment'.
There were systemic cracks in the health system, chronic understaffing, underfunding, extreme staffing shortages and recruitment and retention failures, she said.
'It's time to stop the cuts. It's time to support and resource our hospital properly to employ and retain staff right here in Tairāwhiti [with] permanent staffing, fair allowances and the funding Gisborne Hospital needs to care for its people.
'This Government needs to commit to real solutions and meaningful investment.
'Tairāwhiti will not take it lying down.'
Josephine Culshaw, a healthcare assistant in the aged care sector, told those at the meeting it had been 129 years since the first pay equity claim was filed.
'We've been waiting 129 years to be appreciated and respected, and to be paid what we deserve. We're missing out on $150 a week or $13,000 in the last thousand days.
'We're over it, we're fed up, we're frustrated and that's why we're here.'
GP Hiria Nielsen, a co-owner of Three Rivers medical centre and a former Gisborne Hospital house officer, acknowledged the mahi of health professionals in the hospital.
Speaking from the perspective of the primary health sector, 'if you fall over, we fall over, and vice-versa', she said.
'We support you. Keep it up. We're behind you right to the end.'
Thursday was also a nationwide day of action for the country's union movement. Those involved in Gisborne combined with the Fight for Health hīkoi.