8. Dr JACKIE BLUE (National) Link to this
to the Minister of Health
What are the Government’s priorities in health?
Hon PETE HODGSON (Minister of Health) Link to this
The same as yesterday. The Government’s top priority in health is to make world-class health affordable and accessible for all New Zealand families. I have also set specific priorities for the coming financial year, which I would be happy to provide for Mr Ryall if he is looking for ideas for his long-awaited National Party health policy.
What sort of priority is it when the Minister told the House yesterday that sometimes risks have to be taken with taxpayers’ money in health; and does he believe that the tens of thousands of patients dumped from waiting lists will think he is taking a greater risk with their lives?
Yesterday’s question was about a research project funded by the Health Research Council and delivered by a university. [ Interruption] Any research is uncertain, because research seeks to create new knowledge. If something is known, it does not need to be researched, and therefore a risk must be taken.
Hon Dr Michael Cullen Link to this
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. Members are not allowed to move to another seat for the purpose of interjecting. That member has now been continuously interjecting on the Minister from the most favourable possible seat in the House to do that.
Madam SPEAKER
Ann HartleyWhat reports has the Minister seen on the success of programmes to encourage young New Zealanders to quit smoking?
I have seen reports that phone-messaging programmes could double the number of young New Zealanders who give up smoking. Rather than support research to save lives, National is fretting that people will develop nicotine additions, go to a health service, ask for help, get checked, get referred to a clinical trial, and participate in 3 years’ research, all for a new phone. I invite National to fret about something else, which is that yesterday, while they were engaged in attacking an innovative research project, 12 New Zealanders died from smoking-related causes.
Barbara StewartWhat are the circumstances under which the Minister would consider that it was his duty as Minister of Health to intervene to resolve the dispute between the junior doctors and the district health boards?
The member will be aware—in fact, she has just said—that the dispute is between district health boards and the Resident Doctors Association. My duty is to ensure that the dispute does not put the lives of New Zealanders at risk, and I wish to take the opportunity not only to wish both parties well in tomorrow’s talks but to reiterate my thanks to senior doctors, some junior doctors, nurses, managers, and everyone else who ensured that during the 5-day strike no New Zealanders’ lives were put at risk.
Dr Jonathan Coleman Link to this
When the Minister told the House that it was OK to take a risk with taxpayers’ money, did he not stop to think that getting operations for the thousands of patients culled from waiting lists should be a greater priority than offering video phones to those who choose to smoke?
Hope springs eternal that one day National members will alter their supplementary questions to take into account information received in the course of the questioning. This is a research project funded by the Health Research Council and all research is uncertain, because if one were certain about something, one would not need to research it.
Jo GoodhewWhen the Minister said it was OK to take a risk with taxpayers’ money, was he referring to the risk he is taking by recruiting medical students from rural areas, by not giving them the training they need, and by making it highly unlikely they will ever return to work in rural areas?
I remind members that when they ask a question they do not start it with a statement. I thought we had agreement on that—we ask a question. I ask the Minister now to address it.
I believe that the greater risk is that if National cannot alter its line of attack in the light of new information, it will spend not 9 long years in Opposition but 12 years, or more.
Can the Minister confirm that when he said it was OK to take a risk with taxpayers’ money, he was referring to the Government’s decision to ditch the well-respected PlunketLine in favour of McKesson’s—a company that does not have enough Well Child nurses to monitor calls—and what message is he sending to concerned parents?
May I say to the House one more time that this is a research project. It is a research project that is funded by the Health Research Council. The Health Research Council, as it happens, operates independently of the Government. Politicians are not allowed to pick research projects. All research projects are uncertain, because if they were not, they would not be researched.
Dr Jonathan Coleman Link to this
Does the Minister accept that following his billion-dollar bungle on Kyoto, and with his self-confessed appetite for risk, it is actually very risky for the country to have him in charge of anything larger than a Dunedin fruit stall?