The New Zealand Nurses Organisation, Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa (NZNO) has acknowledged the hard mahi on behalf of nurses done by outgoing Te Whatu Ora Health NZ Chair Rob Campbell.

NZNO Chef Executive Paul Goulter said Rob Campbell was a person who spoke his mind, and that he often advocated for nurses and their causes, even where such comments were not always welcome.

"Mr Campbell regularly spoke about the worrying shortage of nursing staff and took our concerns about issues such as pay equity for nurses and frontline resourcing seriously."

"He was an outspoken critic of the Government’s bewildering refusal to put internationally qualified nurses on the fast track to residency and was firmly committed to te Tiriti partnership in health.

"Mr Campbell strongly believed in the principles embedded in the Pae Ora legislation, especially the principle of working in Tiriti partnership to achieve equity in the lives of all people in Aotearoa New Zealand."

Paul Goulter said health workers had lost a powerful and important advocate in the sacking, and that he wished Health Minister Ayesha Verrall well in finding a replacement.

"At a time of reform and uncertainty, it will be important for her to appoint a successor who is willing to work equally hard in the interests of our frontline health workers who desperately require both recognition and support."

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