The Prime Minister has responded to claims the health system isn't keeping up with cancer screenings amid COVID-19 disruptions.
Speaking with AM on Wednesday, Breast Cancer Foundation chief executive Ah-Leen Rayner said 300 women could have the disease without knowing due to screening delays.
Rayner's comments came after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern claimed screening "has been keeping pace with what we would expect", citing comments from the Cancer Control Agency.
On Monday, Ardern acknowledged screening was still catching up from last year's alert level 4 lockdowns.
"We do have an issue, of course, with the regular amount of screening we usually do being up and running but people who may have missed out previously because of level 4 environments also seeking to be screened," she told AM.
"In some localities, they've done a great job of trying to catch up. In others, particularly those that were affected by level 4 for long periods, there is extra work to do."
Ardern said she'd been discussing with ministers how services could be ramped up further as Omicron's burden on the health system eased.
"One of the things that they're looking at is, as we see some of the pressure across the board around Omicron [ease], that extra campaign around making sure people are coming forward because there's a mixture of two things; there are some people who may not have come forward because they don't want to access health services in this environment - so we know that this is an issue. For others, it'll be about making sure we have extra appointments on top of what we'd usually be doing."
She said there was "no doubt" COVID has had an impact.
"It would have been a much greater impact had we not had the strategy we had. You look over in the UK - the NHS (British National Health Service) has not been providing the same planned care or cancer care that they otherwise would."
Ardern said the Government was actively working to get the health system back into its usual place.
"The impact here could have been far greater. Yes, we do have catch-up to be done - planned care is going to be a particular issue where elective surgery is being delayed.
"We're working very hard to get the health system back into - and this is where these orange and red [traffic light] decisions play out… the place where we can undertake all of that usual care."
It was unfair to suggest that additional funding would solve the issue, Ardern said.
She said it was "often a workforce issue… so when you've got that extra need, you don't necessarily have the workforce or the equipment".
"It's not just a matter of money - if it were, these things would be so much more straightforward."
