9. Hon TONY RYALL (National—Bay of Plenty) Link to this
to the Minister of Health
What are the terms of reference for the new health Workforce Taskforce, and when were these advised to the task force?
Hon PETE HODGSON (Minister of Health) Link to this
The terms of reference are concerned with ways to streamline medical education and training. They were first advised to task force members before they accepted appointment.
Has the Minister seen reports that the junior doctor shortage has reached crisis levels, with one in four junior doctor positions vacant at Middlemore Hospital, one in eight vacant in Waitematā, and at least 30 junior doctor vacancies in Christchurch; and how bad are the junior doctor vacancies at other district health boards and nationally?
Maryan StreetThe task force will be, or has already been, in discussions with the New Zealand Medical Association, the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, the Medical Council of New Zealand, the aforementioned Resident Doctors Association, the Clinical Training Agency, and so on. The support for the task force from the medical community, unfortunately, has not been echoed by Tony Ryall and the National Party. Mr Ryall called the task force members, who include some of New Zealand’s most respected clinical leaders, a bunch of do-nothing bureaucrats. That is unfortunate.
Barbara StewartCan the Minister assure us that the transformation of the Health Workforce Advisory Committee into an action committee with a new name will result in the promised major changes in the way we train our doctors; and when will these changes be implemented?
Yes, I can. Indeed, the task force is charged with taking a range of options already presented to the Government by earlier studies and turning them into a concrete way forward for the Government. I am confident that it will deliver just that.
Does the Minister really deny that there is a crisis in the junior doctor workforce, that district health boards are being forced to employ locum junior doctors, sometimes at twice the rate they would pay for a full-time junior doctor, and that the latest data show that the cost of locums in public hospitals has rocketed up by 62 percent in Waitematā, by 67 percent in the Hutt Valley, by over 40 percent in the Bay of Plenty, and has more than doubled in the capital in the last 12 months alone; or will we see in the next few weeks another U-turn from this Minister, as we did on the general practitioner shortage, the elective services crisis, and the promise that Labour would not pay back the pledge card money?
There have not been any U-turns on general practitioner training or, indeed, on elective surgery. There have been no U-turns. The member just needs to pay a bit more attention to his job, a little more attention to his portfolio, and to try to get some health policy out some time. In respect of the number of New Zealand graduates who apply for jobs in our hospitals, all I can quote is the district health boards’ lead negotiator in the junior doctors’ negotiations, who said there had been no change in the number of New Zealand graduates applying for jobs in our hospitals. The figures have not been finalised yet, although reports suggest that only six doctors out of a graduating class of nearly 300 are looking for work other than in New Zealand.
Is he sure that it is the Government’s tactic to deny any crisis in the junior doctor workforce, despite the number of applications for junior doctor positions being at a new low and the fact that we are rapidly losing many of our junior doctors to Australia—or is this like the Labour pledge card tactic, where it was reported in the country’s largest newspaper that party strategist Pete Hodgson had been made to look an idiot by going on television at his leader’s behest to steadfastly maintain Labour would not pay back the overspending, and, when he did front up, the hapless Hodgson had to admit that he had not been briefed on all the tactics by the Beehive’s ninth floor? A great strategist!
Just a couple of points in respect of that roundabout question on the workforce of New Zealand’s health system. Firstly, I myself do not know how many junior doctors are leaving New Zealand and going to Australia. I am advised that the number is six out of 300. Secondly, in respect of the pledge card, one thing that I think is worth pointing out is that this Government has put out a pledge card before every election, has been elected on each occasion, and on each occasion has kept every one of its pledges—and it will continue to do so proudly.
Tariana TuriaTēnā koe, Madam Speaker, tēnā koutou katoa. What work is being undertaken to implement the broad, overarching goal in He Korowai Oranga to increase the number and improve the skills of the Māori health and disability workforce at all levels?
I suspect the member is already aware of a Māori health workforce action plan that, of course, has been taken around the country by my colleague Mita Ririnui and others over recent months and has received wide acclaim.
When New Zealand most needs to recruit and retain junior doctors in order to stem the outflow to Australia and the increasing number of vacancies in our public hospitals, why is there an increasingly acrimonious negotiating relationship in the health sector; and, whatever his answer may be, why should we accept it, when the last time he took a firm position the Prime Minister hung him out to dry, saying his promise not to pay back the money was wrong and he was operating outside instructions—basically, that he made it up?
In respect of the last part of the question, I suspect it was because she thought I was not dry enough already. In respect of the first part of the question, this Government does not say that New Zealand has enough doctors. We have never said that New Zealand has enough doctors. This Government has increased training for New Zealand doctors. My colleague Annette King increased the number in 2004—the first time any Government had increased the number of doctors in training for about 20 years, including the 9 years when that member was a lacklustre, unimportant part of a National Government.
Given the Minister’s response to my earlier question, when he said that Mita Ririnui has been going around the country on the issue that I had asked him about, can he tell me whether Mita Ririnui has advised him that 50 percent of Māori midwives have left the health workforce in the last 2 years; and what actions will the Government be taking to respond to that calamity?
No, he has not. Indeed, if the member’s assertion is accurate, it is certainly a cause for concern. She may wish to approach me.
Dr Jonathan Coleman Link to this
How can the House have confidence in any answer this Minister gives, when he appeared on television saying that Labour would not be paying any money back, and the Prime Minister then said that Mr Hodgson was not under any instruction or encouragement to make that statement and that statement was wrong; and is being publicly hung out to dry by the Prime Minister not a sign that confidence in this hapless Minister continues to erode, right from the back benches all the way to the front?
Struggling though I am to find any link between this issue and the health workforce issues facing New Zealand, I say it is my—[ Interruption]
Madam SPEAKERI must say that question was wide of the original question, but I had asked the Minister to respond—and I would also ask members to refrain from barracking again, so that the rest of us can hear the answer.