Ministry seeks urgent review of visa rules
Opposition MPs have continued to question the Government over the policy and push for it to put nurses on the straight-to-residence pathway, instead of having to wait two years for residency.
Health Minister Andrew Little says he is doing everything he can to bring critical health workers to New Zealand, after a leaked ministry briefing asked for an urgent review of the fast-track visa system.
The briefing also warned health services were at risk without a clear route for international staff.
In the document, obtained by the ACT Party’s health spokeswoman Brooke van Velden, Ministry of Health deputy director-general of strategy, policy and legislation Maree Roberts ‘‘strongly’’ advises the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) to review its ‘‘green list’’ immediately, instead of mid-2023 as is planned.
She also asks for the green list to be updated to include roles such as enrolled nurses, nurse practitioners and paramedics ‘‘at the nearest opportunity’’. Registered nurses, who have higher qualifications than enrolled nurses, are already on the work to residency tier of the green list.
MBIE this month said it would add all medical professions to the green list, but Roberts said this excluded important non-medical professionals. She also noted neither the ministry, Health New Zealand nor the Maori Health Authority were consulted over the update.
Little said decisions about the green list and immigration policy were for Cabinet to decide on, but the decisions were kept under review.
’’I have made my representations to Cabinet . . . as it went through consultation and I continue to do everything I can to support Te Whatu Ora as the biggest employer of health workers to get the best they can to fill a vacancy.’’
More than 1200 nurses have moved to New Zealand this year, and hundreds more have applied to come, Little said.
But workforce shortages are plaguing every corner of the health sector, worsening from about 5% to 11% overall. Hospital midwifery roles and hospital nurses are short by 1 in 4 and nearly 1 in 10, while the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists estimated a shortage of about 1000 senior doctors. There is also a GP shortage.
Former Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi faced criticism when announcing the two-tier green list in May, because it put registered nurses and midwives on the two-year, work-toresidence list instead of the straight to residence group.
Opposition MPs continue to question the Government over the policy and push for it to put nurses on the straightto-residence pathway, instead of having to wait two years for residency.
Van Velden said the Government needed to stop putting barriers in people’s way.
‘‘Especially when we have a healthcare crisis, we have emergency departments that are overflowing, we have people unable to get GP appointments, we have people unable to get an ambulance to hospital and yet we’re saying ‘don’t worry, maybe at some point in the future people will come here’.’’