Health officials are pressing pause on factoring in ethnicity as a priority for medical waitlists.
Te Whatu Ora began including it in a new medical waitlist criteria in Auckland, alongside clinical priority, time spent on the waitlist, location and deprivation level.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said earlier that there is now no plan to implement the criteria at nationwide level.
ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says the publicity from ZB's earlier article stopped the Government in their tracks and put the requirement on ice.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com