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October 13, 2022
Reti rejects Covid as waiting list blame
Peter Verschaffelt
Posted On October 13, 2022
Don’t blame Covid for long waiting lists.
That’s the view of Opposition health spokesperson Shane Reti, who says the task force set up by Health Minister Andrew Little three months ago hasn’t stopped wait times for surgery ballooning out.
He says an attempt in Waikato to address the issue by sending people on the list back to a clinician didn’t work, as the vast majority still needed to see a specialist.
“Andrew Little will say ‘that’s all about Covid.’ No, it’s not. The waiting list had quadrupled before Covid even arrived so I do not accept Covid is an excuse for all sorts of poor implementation and basic incompetence. That’s why it’s important to know that story. Look before Covid, how were things going before Covid and they were going badly,” Dr Reti says.
He says Covid is still lingering and will do so for some time.
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