Health New Zealand has denied allegations of a hospital recruitment freeze for graduating nurses, following an outcry from the New Zealand Nurses Organisation and allegations from impacted nurses.

In a statement, the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) claimed that Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora is freezing the employment of graduate nurses into the hospital system, as part of its “cost containment cuts”.

The group said the mid-year intakes to facilitate graduates’ transition during their first year of practice will be paused - aside from those recruited externally into specialist services.

NZNO chief executive Paul Goulter claimed the move shows a “lack of commitment from Te Whatu Ora to grow and develop New Zealand’s nursing workforce”.

“We are still in a nursing crisis. As a country, we do not train enough nurses to meet our own needs and we rely heavily on internationally qualified nurses to fill the gap,” he said.

Te Whatu Ora previously committed to permanently employing new graduates through the Safe Staffing Care Capacity Management Accord.

“It is outrageous that they are now going back on that agreement,” he said.

Health Minister Dr Shane Reti today said this is not the case.

“Health NZ has assured me there is no pause on the recruitment of graduate nurses: the graduate process is still underway, applicants have expressed their preferences and matching is happening across the sector,” he said in a statement to the Herald.

Reti also said there is misinformation circulating about the decision.

“It will be causing unwarranted anxiety and concern for our hardworking nursing students. I want them to know that we value their work and Health NZ will continue to support graduate nurses into the right jobs,” he said in a social media post.

Health NZ chief nurse Nadine Gray said nurses will be able to find employment in other areas of the health system.

“There is no pause on the recruitment of graduate nurses by Health New Zealand,” she said.

“Any statements saying otherwise are incorrect. We are continuing to employ graduate nurses, focusing on the areas where we have vacancies.”

Gray said the health sector in New Zealand is bigger than just Health NZ.

“Graduates may also be employed in primary/community care, aged residential care or public health,” she said.

However, application processes have already begun - and one nursing student told the Herald many students applied only for hospital roles.

With “rumours hospital vacancies won’t be filled”, they’re concerned this decision will leave them jobless.

The student said: “I think if this really goes ahead then I’m going to have to look at overseas options as how am I going to live in New Zealand?

“My whole life I’ve wanted to work in Starship [Children’s Hospital] and that dream is now slipping away so I’m going to have to look elsewhere where I may be appreciated more and paid more.”

Upcoming graduate, Sarah, who requested her surname not be used, said this announcement came one week away from completing her nine-week “Transition to Practice” final placement.

“My cohort is angry, and quite frankly, at a loss,” she said.

“It’s honestly a slap to the face. We have been called for time and time again, being told that New Zealand is in desperate need of nurses,” she said.

“We have spent years training, on placements that do not pay, working multiple jobs to make ends meet during a living crisis, and having to adapt to education systems that have been restructured to our detriment.

“New Zealand is constantly and consistently losing nurses to overseas positions that promise higher pay and better work-life balance; however, many of us choose to stay to aid the communities that we live in and care for.

“As a reward, Te Whatu Ora is telling us that we are not wanted.”

An impacted person has spoken to the Herald, claiming to have applied for a role in mental health at Health New Zealand, attempting to relocate to Christchurch from Auckland.

She says she was then told there was a “freeze” in place as of Thursday last week, from a person working internally in recruitment at Health New Zealand.

The woman suggested there was no idea when the freeze would be ending and was told when it would come to an end, positions would have to be approved by a regional manager.

“We’ve had issues of nurses moving to Australia ... struggling so much with short-staffing and being under-resourced,” she said in an anonymous interview, opposing the move that Health NZ denies.

In a statement, Health NZ Te Whatu Ora chief people officer Andrew Slater said recruitment for clinical roles “is moving from a national approval process to being managed through a regional recruitment forum”.

“This regional approval process helps to manage budgets in a way that is closely informed by local clinical priorities and need,” he said.

Slater promised patient safety and outcomes, coupled with staff wellbeing, remain “fundamental” for the health authority, “alongside the need for financial sustainability”.

In an email to staff last Thursday, chief executive Margie Apa said: “In recent times, Health NZ has made significant advances recruiting to vacancies following the success of a range of workforce initiatives in our first 18 months. This has led to some professional groups now having FTE [fulltime equivalent staff] ahead of budget.”

Apa said Health New Zealand was spending over its current-year budget.

“This has been most evident in Hospital and Specialist Services, where we have seen an increase in nursing hours and increased people costs.”

The agency had agreed to an organisation-wide pause on all current and new recruitment of hospital roles that are not patient-facing, and roles in public health not deemed community facing, as of Thursday, June 13.

“These new measures will not impact frontline services,” Apa promised.

The email confirmed all candidates in the recruitment process, outside of international recruitment, would be advised “recruitment is pausing at this time”.

Staff were thanked for their support to “keep us within budget while still maintaining vital frontline services”.

Katie Oliver is a Christchurch-based multimedia journalist and breaking news reporter.

Azaria Howell is a Wellington-based multimedia reporter with an eye across the region. She joined NZME in 2022 and has a keen interest in city council decisions, public service agency reform and transport.