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The New Zealand College of Nurses has slammed the budget for reinforcing old models of healthcare rather than considering where investment would be most effective.
Executive director Jenny Carryer says there is a pressing need to build the Maori nursing and midwifery workforce, as well as give work to newly-graduated nurses so they stay in the country.
Instead the new money is going into postgraduate medical training.
There is also money to subsidise visits to general practitioners up to the age of 13.
Professor Carryer says that shows old-style thinking, and it would be better to provide money so general practice patients can be seen by whoever is best placed to provide appropriate care, whether that is a GP, a nurse practitioner or a nurse.
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