Labour is promising improvements at emergency departments and to move patients through hospital faster.

On Auckland's North Shore on Tuesday, leader Chris Hipkins committed to:

  • moving patients through hospital faster
  • the right care in the right place
  • keeping people healthy and out of hospital
  • "stronger leadership from day one"

Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said Labour would order an immediate report identifying hospital beds that could be opened with more staffing, and make hospitals accountable for getting patients the care they need.

The report would also look into deaths and safety linked to long waits.

She pointed to staffing and capacity problems: North Shore nurses describing days with three times the patients the department was staffed to care for, cancer treatment delays at Auckland’s Starship Children's Hospital, ED staff working at 150-200% capacity at Tauranga Hospital, and Wellington's ED being at code red for 84% of August.

It also follows half of senior doctors at Blenheim's Wairau Hospital warning of chronic understaffing and an ED on the brink of collapse, with the lack of an obstetrician forcing a helicopter to be stationed on site to transfer pregnant mums to another hospital.

Verrall said with GP fees having increased 21% in the past three years, it was too unaffordable for many to get an appointment.

The party is pointing to its policies of three free GP visits a year, a medicard, and guaranteeing a job for all eligible graduate nurses.

"We'll end National's hiring freeze and guarantee every eligible New Zealand-trained graduate nurse a job in our health system. Around 2400 graduates a year will be offered work, with roles available from 2027."