Politicians debate at NZPSHA Conference

NZ Doctor

28 September 2026

Essentials

• Health minister Simeon Brown wants longer-term contracts with private hospitals to help reduce surgical waiting lists.
• Outsourcing must not come at the expense of public hospital capacity, say Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni and Greens candidate Donald MacKenzie Mayo.
• ACT backs longer contracts to give private providers certainty to invest, while the Opportunity Party is calling for a cross-party 10-year health plan.

Longer-term contracts with private hospitals could help cut surgical waiting lists, but outsourcing must not come at the expense of public hospital capacity, politicians told a conference in Auckland.

The competing views emerged at the New Zealand Private Surgical Hospitals Association’s annual conference on Friday. Health minister Simeon Brown argued for longer contracts, while Labour deputy leader Carmel Sepuloni and Greens candidate Donald MacKenzie Mayo stressed the need to invest in the public system.

The panel also included ACT health spokesperson Todd Stephenson, New Zealand First list MP Jenny Marcroft and Opportunity Party leader Qiulae Wong. MC Jehan Casinader asked what role private hospitals should play in each party’s vision for healthcare.

Mr Brown says the Government has seen “excellent progress by working with our private hospitals and we want to continue that relationship”.

“But to deliver on [health targets], we absolutely need to make sure we are maximising capacity of the entire system, and so that’s getting more delivered internally with Health New Zealand, but also making sure we’re using our private hospitals to get as much done as possible…”

A case for longer contracts

Mr Brown says elective surgery contracts with private hospitals have been too ad hoc. He wants Te Whatu Ora to plan further ahead with providers and consider different ways of working together.

“There’s a range of models, and I want Health New Zealand to be far more innovative so we can work together and get the best out of both.”

Investment in public system

Ms Sepuloni says private hospitals complement the public system but warns against outsourcing that displaces investment in public hospitals.

“I’m mindful that we don’t want to end up in a situation where a government abdicates its responsibility for investing in the public health system.

"I’m concerned that we could go down a track where things become out of kilter. And I think it’s important as a politician to remind other politicians to not take their eye off the importance of this,” she says. 

She also warns against a system in which people can get surgery only if they can afford to pay for it. Referring to reports of nursing shortages at Te Whatu Ora, she says the Government must address workforce pressures.

“For those of us who live in Aotearoa New Zealand, we only need to look at our local hospitals and to speak to the staff that are there to know the work pressures that they are under and the implications of understaffing,” Ms Sepuloni says. 

Green perspective 

Mr MacKenzie Mayo, the Greens candidate for Tāmaki, was standing in for party health spokesperson Hūhana Lyndon. He has a medical degree and has more recently worked as a screenwriter for Shortland Street.

“In terms of private hospitals, I think they play a crucial role in New Zealand’s health system, and the clinicians currently dealing with our backlog of elective surgical cases - their work is greatly appreciated,” Mr MacKenzie Mayo says. 

“But ultimately, I don’t think that private hospitals alone are the ultimate solution to the underlying problems our wider health system is facing. I mean our fundamental problems are burden and capacity.  

“So yes, private hospitals will continue to be part of that system. However, they shouldn’t be a substitute for building the public capacity we’ve been missing for decades.” 

ACT backs greater support for private hospital sector 

Mr Stephenson says ACT supports multiyear outsourcing contracts to give private hospitals the certainty to invest in theatres and staff. The party also wants the Ministry of Health to develop a 10-year workforce plan.

“Again, I’m interested in the outcome for the patient and their experience, I don’t really care who delivers it,” he says. “Look, a lot of our health services are already delivered by the private sector; GPs, they are private businesses, pharmacists, and obviously the people in this room.”

NZ First backs private hospital contracts

Ms Marcroft praised Mr Brown’s work to reduce waiting lists and backed an ongoing role for private hospitals in treating patients sooner.

“We will continue to support where the Government sees a necessary role that private hospitals play in terms of dealing to those wait lists. That was a great investment, not just as short-term contracts, but actually longer-term contracts…,” she says.

A plan beyond the electoral cycle

Ms Wong says Opportunity wants a longer-term approach to health. 

“One of the main things that we are trying to bring to politics overall is more longer-term thinking. So our central commitment in our health policy is a cross-party 10-year plan for health.” 

A cross-party plan would help shield the sector from changes in priorities, targets and funding mechanisms after each election, she says.

“We just can’t accept that partisan politics can continue to make health a political football.” 

Ms Wong says her party could work with parties on either side to bring about change. “I think Opportunity is uniquely positioned to do that.”