The conversation reinforces what Kaitiaki Hauora has been saying for months: New Zealand cannot rebuild its health system without properly funding public healthcare, honouring Te Tiriti, and keeping healthcare public for the benefit of patients, not profit.

The findings reinforce Kaitiaki Hauora's warning that New Zealand cannot rebuild its health system while funding falls short of what is needed simply to stand still. Until that funding gap is addressed, pressure on hospitals, general practice, hauora Māori services and the health workforce will continue to grow.

Dr David Galler says the Government's overhaul of primary care funding has resulted in a weaker funding model after removing ethnicity as one of the recognised indicators of health need.

Patients are waiting too long for care. Health workers are exhausted. In recent months we've seen patients die after prolonged waits for emergency care, and we've seen people decide the safest place to be was anywhere other than an overcrowded emergency department. Stories like these should be the exception, not the rule. Yet they're becoming far too familiar.

Following the death of a patient in the Emergency Department waiting room at Waikato Hospital, Dr David Galler and Louisa Wall argue that the tragedy reflects the cumulative impact of sustained underinvestment in public healthcare. They call for renewed investment, honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and protecting the integrity of New Zealand's public health system.

A senior blood cancer diagnostic specialist has warned New Zealand's pathology services are under growing strain as he leaves for Australia after more than three decades at Dunedin Hospital. Kaitiaki Hauora says the latest concerns highlight the need for an independent review of laboratory services and renewed investment in the public health workforce.

Kaitiaki Hauora spokesperson Louisa Wall says recent debate over access to diabetes medications highlights the need for a health system that delivers equitable outcomes for Māori and Pacific communities and honours Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Kaitiaki Hauora is deeply concerned by the Government's intervention in the leadership of the Medical Council.

This explainer outlines what happened, why health professionals are alarmed, and why the independence of professional regulation matters to every New Zealander.

When politicians say something is "unaffordable", compared to what? Economist Dr Bill Rosenberg's recent analysis of NZ Super raises a bigger question that also sits at the heart of debates about health funding, public services and government priorities.

Kaitiaki Hauora has submitted against the Disability Support Services Bill, warning it could shift responsibility for care away from the state and onto families.

The submission raises concerns about proposals requiring disabled people to rely on "natural supports" before accessing publicly funded assistance, arguing this risks increasing pressure on carers, creating inequitable access to support, and undermining the rights of disabled people.

Kaitiaki Hauora is calling for disability support to be based on need, stronger Te Tiriti protections, meaningful involvement of disabled people and carers in decision-making, and sustainable public funding for disability services.

Lowering the bowel screening age from 58 to 56 is welcome, but it does little to address the reality that Māori continue to develop bowel cancer at younger ages than non-Māori.

In 2025 doctors Art Nahill and Glenn Colquhoun bought an old Ford Transit van. Nigel Brown painted it up to look like an ambulance, then they drove it from Te Hāpua to Wellington to protest at the state of the New Zealand health system, holding a series of public meetings throughout the North Island en route.

Later they shoulder-tapped some of the most innovative health workers they met along the way to help them design a ‘blue-sky’ health system that might answer the criticisms people had shared with them.

This book tells the story of the Hīkoi 4 Health and summarises the messages it received from the New Zealand public. It also dreams. and discusses what a modern, fit-for- purpose health system could look like in the twenty-first century.

New opinion piece by Dr Bill Rosenberg examining what Budget 2026 health funding figures actually mean in practice, and why “record investment” claims often fail to reflect the pressures facing the public health system.

The piece draws on new analysis from Dr Bill Rosenberg and Dr Jackie Cumming, looking at healthcare demand, workforce shortages, underfunding, and the growing gap between what New Zealand currently spends on health and what is needed to maintain reasonable access to care.

Pharmac is proposing changes to funded access rules for several type 2 diabetes medicines, including removing the Māori and Pacific access pathway currently used to address longstanding inequities in care.

Kaitiaki Hauora has lodged a submission opposing the change and is encouraging New Zealanders to have their say before consultation closes on Thursday 28 May.

New analysis from Kaitiaki Hauora warns the Government’s planned health funding increase for Budget 2026 may do little more than keep the current system running under strain. The report says rising costs, population growth and workforce pressures are likely to absorb most of the funding increase, leaving little room to significantly improve access to care or reduce growing pressure across the health system.

Patient Voice Aotearoa is calling for an independent review into pathology services in the lower South Island after an HDC investigation found a significantly delayed cancer diagnosis breached the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights.

The call comes amid questions about workforce pressure, the closure of histology services in Invercargill, and whether other patients may have been affected.

Experienced GPs are warning that primary care in Aotearoa is reaching breaking point, with doctors reporting unpaid work, burnout, and a funding model they say is no longer sustainable.

Now some are actively discouraging medical students from becoming GPs at all.

With Budget 2026 less than three weeks away, the pressure is on the Government to properly fund healthcare before the cracks deepen further.

When the private sector starts to dominate a service, it’s no longer really public.

Hon Pete Hodgson questions why new funding is being used to outsource care instead of strengthening the public system, arguing this is a choice, not a necessity.

Over time, that choice risks hollowing out public services and making them harder and more expensive to rebuild.

A landmark report released today outlines a detailed proposal to make oral healthcare free and universal in New Zealand. The report, ‘Fixing Oral Healthcare in Aotearoa New Zealand: A Costed Policy Plan for Delivering Dental for All’, is published by Dental for All and includes costings by independent economists for a national network of community oral health clinics. 

Illustration by Mil Hampy

Universal Health Coverage is not about access in theory, but outcomes in practice. As inequities persist across Aotearoa’s health system, Louisa Wall challenges the idea that “opportunity” is enough, warning that without measurable improvements in outcomes, inequity is not just acknowledged, but accepted.