Govt Plan To Privatise Hospital Parking Needs To Be Scrapped Entirely

The PSA welcomes Te Whatu Ora Health NZ abandoning its plan to privatise parking services across all hospitals for now, but must rule out ever returning to the flawed plan in the future.

"This was a mean-spirited plan, putting profits over patients and health workers and the blame sits squarely on the shoulders of Health Minister Simeon Brown," said Fleur Fitzsimons, National Secretary for the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi.

"The Government needs to properly fund our public health system, instead Health NZ is being forced to find scarce revenue everywhere. This is not how a public health system that puts the needs of patients and health workers first should operate.

"We are pleased Health NZ has seen sense and acknowledged the financial impact this poorly thought through proposal would have had on patients and health workers when household budgets are already under pressure.

"We call on Health NZ to firmly state that privatising parking services is off the agenda permanently."

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