Chinanews, October 26. According to a report compiled by the New Zealand Chinese Herald.com, several experts warned that if the New Zealand government does not urgently relax the entry threshold and allow key immigrant workers to enter New Zealand, New Zealand health workers will face a huge burden.

　　Since New Zealand closed its borders on March 25, hundreds of migrant health workers have been allowed to enter.

The Ministry of Health stated that they need to "fill the gap caused by the new crown pneumonia epidemic."

The Ministry of Commerce, Employment and Innovation (MBIE) stated that these necessary employees can reduce the impact of the epidemic on health workers.

　　However, experts in the health industry told the English-language "Herald" that the process of allowing these key immigrant employees to enter is too strict, and there is now a quarantine fee of 3,100 New Zealand dollars. Soon, patients in New Zealand and residents of elderly care institutions We all feel the impact of this "extremely worrying issue".

Family doctors: call for lowering the entry threshold for key employees

　　The President of the New Zealand Medical Association runs a general practitioner clinic.

She said that due to the lack of general practitioners, patient consultations have been postponed and waiting times have been prolonged-the epidemic has made this problem more and more serious, especially in rural areas.

　　She said, “For many general practitioners who graduated in New Zealand, working in rural clinics is not attractive.” Rural general practitioner clinics rely heavily on temporary doctors from overseas, but the process of getting these doctors in is too difficult. .

　　She explained that it took 3-6 months for these doctors to come before the outbreak, but now due to border restrictions, the time required has been extended to 6-12 months.

　　Moreover, the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners also estimated such a data three years ago-nearly 47% of general practitioners are expected to retire within the next 10 years.

　　She said that employers could not afford to quarantine.

"We will push the government to waive this fee for such key employees because it is not sustainable. They are here to help save lives."

　　The CEO of the New Zealand Rural General Practitioners Network (NZRGPN) stated that if the contract start date exceeds December 31, overseas doctors cannot even apply for visas because under the government’s current exemption conditions, key health workers who can apply for visas to enter the country The start time of new jobs must be between March and December 31, 2020.

　　He said that NZRGPN has written an urgent letter to the Minister of Immigration, requesting an extension of this date, but has not received a reply.

　　"Our New Zealand local recruitment team will still receive a large number of letters from overseas doctors expressing interest. They are very interested in moving to New Zealand. We will continue to recruit and resettle them. However, we are worried that after December 2020, the border and immigration Restrictions will cause delays in the placement of these essential health workers."

　　In response to the English Herald, the Minister of Immigration said: “The government will review this category to ensure that all exemptions meet the necessary goals. Any decision will be made before the end of the year.”

Aged care sector: particularly worthy of attention

　　Several experts said that the aged care sector is particularly worrying because it relies heavily on immigrant care workers and nurses.

　　Half of New Zealand’s 5,000 registered elderly care nurses are from overseas.

And according to data provided by the CEO of the New Zealand Aged Care Association, a quarter of elderly care workers (a total of 20,000 people) are from overseas.

　　"Our international labor force is rapidly drying up, and what will happen in the future is a very worrying issue." He said.

　　According to MBIE data, 378 overseas qualified nurses arrived in New Zealand in January this year, but in September, only 6 arrived.

　　He said that it is a good thing for the government to extend the visas of international nursing staff and nurses for 12 months, but the long-term impact is quite worrying-"The reality is that when these visas expire next year, we may be in crisis. There is no promise about how New Zealand will plan to solve this problem in the long term."

　　He said that on the positive side, New Zealand natives became more and more interested in taking up nursing work after losing their jobs in the hospitality industry or other industries.

"Many people regard caring for the elderly as a stable job, because one of the good things brought about by the epidemic is that people are beginning to realize how important it is to take care of the elderly."

　　Further research is needed on the ways to make nursing workers and the aged care industry attractive to New Zealanders.

He said one way is to simplify the process of changing from a nurse to a nurse.

Nurses outside the aged care department

　　The director of the New Zealand Nurses Association also expressed the same concerns as the CEO of the New Zealand Aged Care Association, but he pointed out that the impact of nurses working in the Hospital Authority is not as severe as that of the aged care industry, which is more dependent on immigrant workers.

　　He said that the union does not have statistics on the number of New Zealand nurses going abroad this year since the outbreak, but he believes that this number should be very low due to border restrictions.

　　"There are rumors that given New Zealand's good response to the new crown pneumonia epidemic, we may see more nurses move here from North America, the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe. We have already conducted some investigations."

Government response

　　MBIE’s immigration policy manager responded that the entry restriction exemption category for key health workers was established in March 2020. The purpose of the establishment is to promote the response of our health system to the epidemic and to interfere with health workers. drop to lowest".

　　In response to calls for simplifying the entry procedures for critical medical care and waiving the quarantine fee, he said: "The border is now open to critical medical staff. Key health workers will receive invoices after they leave controlled quarantine facilities. As for payment, The problem is arranged by the individual health worker and the employer."

　　MBIE data shows that between August 10 and October 18, 314 overseas health workers have been allowed to enter New Zealand.

A spokesperson for MBIE said the data before August was not accurate.

　　"We were unable to provide the requested data because the information was not recorded in an easily reportable format."