Are New Zealand hospitals being deliberately understaffed?

Reports of delayed cancer treatments at Starship Hospital have raised fresh concerns about understaffing across New Zealand's health system. As the election looms, calls are growing for accountability.

Recent revelations that staffing shortages at Starship Hospital have delayed cancer treatments for seriously ill children have raised fresh concerns about the state of New Zealand's public health system.

But the problems go well beyond Starship. Across the country, health workers are reporting chronic understaffing, growing waiting lists and patients missing out on essential care.

While years of underfunding have contributed to the crisis, a recent report from the Public Service Association suggests the current government has made matters considerably worse by deliberately keeping essential health positions vacant to save money.

So what ever happened to the government's promise to protect frontline health services? And who should be held accountable for the consequences of its cuts?

In the latest episode of In Brief, Ollie Neas speaks with the PSA report's lead author, Grace Millar, about the evidence behind these claims, the government's response, and what it would take to rebuild New Zealand's public health system.

Watch the full conversation below and subscribe to Public Interest for more discussions making sense of politics and power in Aotearoa.

This episode was edited by Jeremy Leveridge.