Budget 26 fails to address unmet health needs or nursing workforce shortages and leaves Māori worse off, NZNO says.

Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says Budget 26 is a "money go-round" which requires the health sector to do even more with even less.

"This Budget robs Pita to pay Paul. There is $37 million for Hauora Māori but a $47.2 million programme to immunise tamariki and other Māori health funds has been scrapped.

"Māori are left worse off after Budget 26," Kerri Nuku says.

Hospital infrastructure spending was welcome but didn’t meet the unmet health needs today, she says.

"The $174 million additional funding for the new Dunedin hospital is much needed. However, funding for the new Whangārei Hospital ward tower has been pushed out until 2031. Hawke’s Bay, Palmerston North and Tauranga hospital redevelopments have funding allocated for design and enabling work which won’t be completed for years.

"This is effectively kicking the can down the road and provides nothing to address the gaps in health services in those communities now."

NZNO was concerned cost pressure funding of $1.37 billion wasn’t ringfenced, Kerri Nuku says.

"This means that money isn’t guaranteed. The track record of the Coalition Government is the same level of cost pressure funding last financial year was raided by more than $300 million for new unfunded initiatives announced since the last budget.

"For example, any further outsourcing of elective surgeries will have to come from this cost pressure funding. This means that core service delivery is whittled away. This is the funding which is meant to ensure the health sector can tread water," Kerri Nuku says.

Aotearoa New Zealand’s public health system is funded at a lower level than 16 other OECD countries.

"New Zealanders know their hospitals can’t keep up with current demand and patient needs. Nursing workforce levels around the country have plateaued or declined. A further $826 million doesn’t touch the sides on safely staffing our hospitals to give patients the care they need," Kerri Nuku says.