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Speaker 1: Team and Health New Zealand's books are looking slightly better

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Speaker 1: than previously feared, but still really really really bad. It's

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Speaker 1: chief executive Marji Uppas said today that the projected deficit

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Speaker 1: for twenty four to twenty five has reduced from one

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Speaker 1: point seven billion dollars to one point one billion dollars.

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Speaker 1: It comes as labor accuses the government of manufacturing a

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Speaker 1: crisis in the health sector to justify cuts to the system.

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Speaker 1: Health Minister Shane Etty is with us this evening, good evening.

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Speaker 2: The nuqueject good.

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Speaker 3: So heck, yeah, you two.

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Speaker 1: How has Health New Zealand managed to reduce that projected

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Speaker 1: deficit by six hundred million dollars?

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Speaker 2: So look, it's a collective piece of work from every

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Speaker 2: single person at Health New Zealand and for that I

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Speaker 2: give them thanks everyone involved. But fundamentally, there's been several things.

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Speaker 2: First of all, they've implemented management controls, which is what

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Speaker 2: the Order to General for several years had been saying

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Speaker 2: needed to be done. They've looked at optimizing the workforce.

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Speaker 2: Devolving the budget and decision making down into the regions

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Speaker 2: has improved productivity as well. It's been a mix of

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Speaker 2: these things that has given us a slightly improved position

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Speaker 2: which will take going forward.

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Speaker 1: Health has delayed getting back to budget by another year though,

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Speaker 1: So how do you feel about that?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, well that's a challenge. What we could have done

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Speaker 2: is put up a deficit or put up a balanced

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Speaker 2: budget that just wasn't going to be reached and put

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Speaker 2: even more stress on the system, or taken into account

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Speaker 2: that we pushed out that a little bit further and

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Speaker 2: get there in a more more thoughtful and safe way.

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Speaker 1: So Ai Scheverral said today during scrutiny week that you

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Speaker 1: have manufactured a crisis, saying that Health didn't even need

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Speaker 1: a commissioner. What's your response to that?

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Speaker 2: Oh, she's dreaming she created the crisis. Everyone agrees, oag

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Speaker 2: The independent monitors have agreed that there's been a financial crisis.

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Speaker 2: So I'm sorry, I don't wear that. I will own

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Speaker 2: what we do and I do in my hands, but

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Speaker 2: I'm afraid she needs to own that.

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Speaker 1: At the moment, some nurses are on strike until seven

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Speaker 1: pm this evening, given a one point one billion dollar deficit.

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Speaker 1: What is your message to them right now?

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Speaker 2: Oh? My message to them is thank you. I truly

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Speaker 2: value your work. A little disappointed that we're out in

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Speaker 2: strike action so early in the bargaining and negotiating stage,

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Speaker 2: but I would commend both parties to please get back

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Speaker 2: to that bargaining table.

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Speaker 1: Thanks for your time, we appreciate it. Health Minister Shane

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Speaker 1: RITTI with us this evening.

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Speaker 3: For more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive. Listen live to

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