Simeon Brown’s latest sleight of hand over Dunedin Hospital’s ICU beds isn’t fooling anyone who values the truth. The government’s plan to slash the number of ICU beds from 30 to 20 has been exposed, yet Brown insists there’s no real reduction. His reasoning? Both plans allow for a potential expansion to 40 beds in some vague, distant future. This isn't just disingenuous...it’s a calculated distortion of the truth that insults the intelligence of all logical thinking New Zealanders.
Brown’s claim hinges on a semantic trick, pretending that a theoretical future capacity erases a real-world cut. I mean just how stupid does Brown think Kiwi voters are?
The Otago Daily Times revealed that Health New Zealand’s updated modelling, conveniently undisclosed, deems the 10-bed reduction “unnecessary” for now. Without transparency, this smells like a cost-cutting dodge dressed up as pragmatism. Former health chief Dr John Chambers warns that fewer ICU beds risk surgery delays and strain on emergency departments, yet Brown has the gall to accuse his critics of misunderstanding his "grand" vision.
On Wednesday, The Otago Daily Times reported:
Health Minister Simeon Brown has been accused of being "disingenuous" and "doubling down" after claiming the new Dunedin hospital was not losing intensive care unit (ICU) beds.
It comes after the Otago Daily Times revealed the government was pushing ahead with a plan to cut the number of ICU and high-dependency unit beds on opening of the new Dunedin hospital from 30 to 20.
Before the election, the National Party promised a “full-scale” rebuild, but post-victory, Brown unveiled a scaled-back version with 59 fewer beds than initially planned. Labour leader Chris Hipkins called it a broken promise, and Brown’s response was to deflect, blaming Labour’s delays while sidestepping his own cost-cutting and backtracking.
Brown’s approach to striking doctors further underscores his slippery record. When senior hospital doctors walked out over stalled pay talks, he lambasted their union for not putting Health NZ’s offer to a vote, framing it as unreasonable. He then again lied about how a vote went, claiming that only a minority number of doctors wanted to strike, which was completely untrue. Yet he continues to gloss over the inadequacy of National's 1% offer, which failed to address chronic understaffing and pay disparities driving doctors abroad. His call for them to “return to negotiations” ignored the government’s role in stonewalling fair terms.
My question to Simeon Brown after his press conference just now about the Senior Doctors strike claiming a minority of Drs voted for the strike ; how does he know how many voted for strike action ? Is he spying on internal union democracy? Nothing would surprise me.
— Darien Fenton - Elizabeth is my middle name (@DarienFenton) May 1, 2025
