Seven in 10 voters believe New Zealand’s public health system is in crisis, the latest 1News Verian poll suggests.
The poll asked Kiwis which view came closest to their own between two options.
Seventy per cent said the health system is in crisis, while 28% said it faces challenges but is not in crisis. The remaining 2% did not know or preferred not to say.
National's health spokesperson Simeon Brown said the Government inherited a system in crisis and had made progress on emergency department (ED) waits.
But National says measures it has taken are showing progress. (Source: 1News)
“When we came to office, Chris Hipkins had left our EDs with only 68% of patients being seen within six hours. We have improved that to 76%,” Brown said.
“We inherited the health system under crisis. It is still facing significant challenges, but the health targets are showing year-on-year improvement."
He said the Government was “making record investment in our health system”.
In the 1News Verian poll, Green supporters (93%), Labour supporters (79%), Māori (81%) and women (77%) were more likely than average to say the system is in crisis.
ACT supporters (54%), National supporters (44%) and men aged 50 and over (38%) were more likely to say it faces challenges but is not in crisis.
Labour unveiled a plan to ease pressure on hospitals earlier today, promising two audits on its first day in government.
Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall pointed to “corridor care being routine, deaths in emergency departments and nurses declaring a state of emergency in them”.
She said the first audit would examine “mortality in emergency departments associated with long waits as well as quality and safety.
"The second – a rapid review of every bed that we can open in order to free up space so that patients can leave the ED," Verrall said.
Patient advocate Malcolm Mulholland told 1News he would describe the system with one word, beginning with “f, and ironically ending in -ed".
Mulholland said the prospective audits would uncover shortages.
"They will find a lack of staffing right across the board. They will find that there’s not enough beds in the vast majority of hospitals," he said.
"We thought we had a health system. We are debating whether or not system is the right word to describe what we have currently."
He added: "The health system has never been in great nick, and fair enough, successive governments should take the cop for that. But right now, things are terrible."
Between October 15 and October 19 2026, 1003 eligible voters were polled by mobile phone (500) and online using online panels (503). The maximum sampling error is approximately ±3.1%-points at the 95% confidence level. Party support percentages have been rounded up or down to whole numbers, except those less than 4.5%, which are reported to one decimal place. The data has been weighted to align with Stats NZ population counts for age, gender, region, ethnic identification and education level. The sample for mobile phones is selected by random dialling using probability sampling, and the online sample is collected using an online panel. Undecided voters, non-voters and those who refused to answer are excluded from the data on party support. The results are a snapshot in time of party support, and not a prediction.
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