“We have a very simple approach to healthcare which is based off need, not ethnicity or race,” Christopher Luxon says after the government stepped in at Hawke’s Bay .

Cardiac surgery delays are causing backlogs across Waikato Hospital, with wait times ballooning by up to eight weeks, doctors say.

Voluntary redundancy is being offered to a limited number of staff working in admin, policy advisory and specialist services.

A staffing shortage forced a hospital scanning department to shut down for two and a half hours just a day before the Minister of Health turned up at it, to announce faster scanning.

“The employed staff already work 40-60 hours per week, plus additional shifts.”

Lester Levy insists he knew nothing about an internal staff presentation detailing potential widescale cuts to save money.