Starship says nursing shortages have delayed 20 chemotherapy cycles over four months, adding uncertainty for whānau navigating children’s cancer treatment.
Moana Forbes knows the pressures through her daughter Ka‘iulani, who was diagnosed with neuroblastoma as a young child and travelled to Spain for treatment following a public fundraising campaign.
Moana says dormant cancer remains in her daughter’s bones and cannot be removed. She says doctors describe Ka‘iulani’s condition as stable disease rather than cancer-free.
“We were mildly affected by this last week with my daughter’s routine MRI, but I know the implications for some whānau whose children are undergoing frontline cancer treatment could be absolutely devastating.”
Moana says she has also been speaking with parents who are devastated by the delays.
“It’s hard, and it’s hard not knowing if you’re going to get treatment or not.”
She says delays affect parents’ ability to work while supporting their children.
“Delays are huge for whānau … It’s got a huge flow-on effect.”
The Political Clash
The delays have sparked an immediate political stoush, with Labour blaming the Government’s approach to workforce management.
Labour’s health spokesperson Dr Ayesha Verrall says chronic understaffing and a two-year hiring freeze have left the system vulnerable.
“Health New Zealand has confirmed child cancer treatments have been delayed, and the fact is that that’s not good enough,” Dr Verrall says.
“That ward is understaffed, and the government has had a hiring freeze in place for two years. The fault for this lies on the government, that has only hired 54 nurses in two years.”
Minister’s Response
National Health Minister Simeon Brown has firmly rejected those claims, calling them untrue.
“The claim is false. No child has had their cancer care suspended, and no child has missed out on care,” Brown said.
He further stated that “a handful of chemotherapy sessions had been delayed by a few days, and never by more than seven,” and that “there is no hiring freeze at Health NZ.”
However, as claims continue to build around shortages in hospitals around the country, Health NZ data obtained by the NZ Nurses Organisation showed 85 percent of shifts at Starship’s haematology/oncology ward were understaffed during August.
Brown notes that these shortages are improving as reflected in the last six weeks, attributing the delays to standard winter pressures.
“This is the hospital managing demand and winter pressures as usual. Clinical teams have been closely involved throughout in deciding how best to manage this.”
This sentiment is further reinforced by Starship.
Health New Zealand Director (Medical and Community), Starship Hospital, Dr Greg Williams, says that while the hospital may be dealing with staff shortages during a time of high demand, the patient is of utmost priority.
“Starship Hospital’s paediatric haematology/oncology service is managing nursing staff shortages at a time of high demand and clinical complexity.
“As a result of these shortages, we have had to reschedule some treatments to ensure our services can still be delivered safely, within capacity, while remaining within reasonable timeframes.”
Caught in the Firing Line
While the country is inching closer to elections, healthcare has again been caught in the middle of political feuds.
According to Health New Zealand Group Director of Operations Dr Mike Shepherd, Starship delivers approximately 40 cycles of chemotherapy involving as many children every week—with 20 cycles having faced delays over four months.
For Moana Forbes, treatment is especially traumatic for the kids.
“For us, fortunately we weren’t getting chemo that day. But, especially when kids are going through these kinds of treatment, sometimes it can be quite traumatic.”
New Zealand Nurses Organisation spokesperson Kerri Nuku adds this isn’t a new development and should be of greater concern for the government.
“These are young vulnerable tamariki and their families; that’s what makes this really disgusting, and our nurses have been crying out for a long time that this is going to start impacting on communities.”
Forbes says she would like to see the next government pay more attention to healthcare.
“I really want to see governments and the next government prioritise our health care system, our nurses and resources so we can provide treatment for those in need.”
