6. Hon TONY RYALL (National—Bay of Plenty) Link to this
to the Minister of Health
In the event of a bird flu pandemic, who will treat the sick being cared for in their homes?
Hon PETE HODGSON (Minister of Health) Link to this
The answer is pretty much all of us. It will be family members first, of course, because in a worst-case scenario endless flying squads of health professionals simply will not be available. So it will be family, friends, neighbours, volunteers, plus those who staff any community-based assessment centres and those who staff any mobile responses that emanate from those centres.
Does the Influenza Pandemic Action Plan envisage medical workers calling on sick people in their homes who need medical treatment, or will critically ill people be required to travel to assessment centres, thus spreading the disease and putting themselves under further stress?
I think the answer will depend on the stage of phase 4 that we are in. At the beginning of the pandemic we will attempt to keep people away from hospital and treat them at home with the ambulatory services that are available. Should the pandemic worsen, then it is inevitable that people will go to hospital and be admitted—at least until hospitals cannot cope any further, at which point they will cease to cope.
Ann HartleyIn the event of a pandemic, hand-washing and drying will be the most important measure to prevent the spread of infection—I stress, the most important. Families who teach their children this now will be best prepared when a pandemic comes. The information that went out on Monday or Tuesday morning—about 10,000 copies of this leaflet have gone out to pharmacies, general practitioners, and so on—is a way of beginning to raise further the awareness as to the importance of basic measures such as hand-washing and drying.
Is he aware that this decision about whether to treat people at home could be made right now and that it is fundamental to saving lives in a pandemic?
The member makes a mistake in his logic, and it is this: it is a good idea to keep a few options open in order that we do not head down cul-de-sacs. But current thinking, and it will, I think, persist somewhat for some time anyway, is that community-based assessment centres and mobile response teams emanating from them will be the best way of augmenting assistance given to victims in the first instance by their families, friends, and neighbours.
Dr Jackie BlueIs the Minister comfortable with the situation he described on radio this morning—that no one is in charge of our preparations for a pandemic?
The member misrepresents the position. I was asked whether it was a good idea to have one Minister in charge of pandemic planning, which was an idea that came from the United Nations, and I said “No”. In this country we are sufficiently good at whole-of-Government planning for that to be a better way for us to manage it. And I might say there has not been a Cabinet meeting since the election that has not discussed the pandemic.
Why will the Government not increase the national supply of antibiotics, which have a shelf life of up to 3 years and which are necessary for the treatment of secondary infections, when most other countries are already doing so?
We will. What we will not do is stockpile those antibiotics, as we have stockpiled Tamiflu under lock and key, because if one does that, then the chances of running into expiry dates are too high.
Is the Minister relying on district health boards to organise medical care for those suffering at home, and is he prepared to accept those plans, including this document I have in front of me from the Bay of Plenty District Health Board and Lakes District Health Board, which have not one mention of actually treating anybody who is ill during the pandemic?
It might be helpful if I remind the member that his questioning is entirely about halfway through phase 4 of a pandemic, and we are part-way through phase 1. But since the member raises the issue of the preparedness of district health boards, he may be interested to learn that district health boards have all sent their plans in to the ministry, that the response to those plans back out to the district health boards is happening on Monday or Tuesday, and about 2 weeks after that every district health board’s emergency planner will be gathered in Wellington to take it to the next step. Planning is in progress, planning will continue, and planning began 2 years before that member decided to ask questions about it.