« Go to related Bill

Supplementary Order Paper No 158

No 158

House of Representatives

Supplementary Order Paper

Wednesday, 18 May 2022

Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Bill

Proposed amendments

Dr Shane Reti, in Committee, to move the following amendments:

Clause 4

In clause 4, in the definition of health strategy, after paragraph (e) (page 7, after line 6), insert:

(f)

the Health Workforce Development Strategy

Clause 10

After clause 10(1)(a)(v) (page 13, after line 2), insert:

(vi)

Health Workforce Development Strategy; and

Clause 29

After clause 29(1)(a)(v) (page 24, after line 13), insert:

(vi)

Health Workforce Development Strategy:

New clause 40B

After clause 40A (page 28, after line 24), insert:

40B Health Workforce Development Strategy

(1)

The Minister must prepare and determine a Health Workforce Development Strategy—

(a)

within 100 days of the commencement of this Act; and

(b)

to be implemented no later than 1 year after the commencement of this Act.

(2)

The purpose of the Health Workforce Development Strategy is to provide a framework for the development of the health workforce in the short term, medium term, and long term.

(3)

The Health Workforce Development Strategy must—

(a)

contain an assessment of the current state of the health workforce and the performance of the health sector in relation to the health workforce; and

(b)

provide pathways, in collaboration with other relevant agencies (including Immigration New Zealand), to improve immigration settings that may create barriers for migrant health workers; and

(c)

provide pathways for international medical graduates who are already in New Zealand to complete appropriate quality assurance measures and be integrated into the health workforce in a timely manner; and

(d)

provide pathways to increase the number of graduates from domestic medical and nursing institutions; and

(e)

take into account the urgent workforce requirements for—

(i)

senior medical officers; and

(ii)

general practitioners; and

(iii)

critical care nurses; and

(iv)

rural care; and

(v)

the aged residential care sector as a whole; and

(f)

take into account remuneration levels in relation to—

(i)

pay equity; and

(ii)

pay parity; and

(iii)

primary care funding.

(4)

Subsection (3) does not limit what may be included in the Health Workforce Development Strategy.

Schedule 1

In Schedule 1, clause 2(1), after “the Women’s Health Strategy” (page 63, lines 32 and 33), insert “, and the Health Workforce Development Strategy”.

Explanatory note

This Supplementary Order Paper amends the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Bill to require a Health Workforce Development Strategy (the Strategy). This brings all other references in the Bill around health workforce strategy into one location and master plan. The health workforce is an important enabler to achieving good health outcomes. The current pandemic has reinforced the importance of a robust health workforce. This Supplementary Order Paper requires short-, medium-, and long-term solutions while also prioritising urgency around senior medical officers, general practitioners, critical care nurses, rural care workers, and the aged residential care sector as a whole. The Strategy will also need to take into account issues of remuneration as it relates to pay equity, pay parity, and primary care funding.