6. Hon TONY RYALL (National—Bay of Plenty) Link to this
to the Minister of Health
How many patients so far this calendar year have been returned to their general practitioners for ongoing care from first specialist assessment waiting lists and hospital booking system waiting lists, and how many more patients does he expect to be removed from these waiting lists before 30 September 2006?
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR (Associate Minister of Health) Link to this
Over 555,000 people receive either elective or specialist treatment every year. An additional 3 to 5 percent are sent back to their general practitioners. That will be the case for the calendar year through to September 2006.
Has the Minister seen the open letter from 74 of the Canterbury region’s 80 surgeons criticising the Government’s waiting list policy, which states that compliance with the Government directive “will deny many of our surgical patients the benefits of modern surgery and force them to continue to live with worsening disabilities and in some cases undiagnosed and untreated conditions including tumours that will lead to premature death.”; and does he not realise that it is absolutely unprecedented to have virtually every surgeon in a district health board come out and warn the Government that under its waiting list policies, patients will die?
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR Link to this
I am aware of the views of those surgeons. I am also aware that the Canterbury District Health Board has acknowledged that it could have handled the process better. It has apologised and it has committed an additional $2 million to elective surgery in the next year.
Sue MoroneyHas the Minister seen any reports on the results of patients being returned to their general practitioners for an updated assessment of their condition?
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR Link to this
Yes, I have seen reports that people receiving an updated assessment from their general practitioners has meant that thousands of people have been booked for treatment within 6 months. In Hawke’s Bay, for example, 800 people were given certainty that they would either be seen by a specialist or get surgery. In Nelson-Marlborough, around 200 people were given that certainty.
Barbara StewartHas the Ministry of Health considered the likely effects of the current trend to reassessment on overworked and understaffed general practices, and how this constant recycling of patients may affect the recruitment and retention of general practitioners?
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR Link to this
We have been very aware of the situation with general practitioners. That is why the previous Minister, the Hon Annette King, increased the number of placements at medical schools in order to increase the number of people training. A huge amount of money has been put into primary care to acknowledge the pressure on general practitioners, and to put in place preventive measures that, over time, will reduce the pressure not only on general practitioners but on the hospital system.
Is the Minister going to take any notice of the fact that 74 of the 80 surgeons at the Canterbury District Health Board have this morning released a letter that warns the Government that its waiting list policy will see people die; does that not expose the fact that this Government’s waiting list cull is nothing other than a cynical, political ploy of data cleansing?
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR Link to this
As I said to that member before, I acknowledge that those are the views of those surgeons. The Canterbury District Health Board has acknowledged that it could have handled the situation better, has apologised, and has committed $2 million more into elective surgery for the next year.
Is the Minister aware of the memo written by a Canterbury District Health Board manager, and leaked to the press, stating that for every culled patient returned to hospital care, another must be axed, and does he consider this revolving door approach to patient care satisfactory?
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR Link to this
I have not seen that memo and I would dispute that it is a replacement of “one-on, one-off”. The acting chief executive officer, Karleen Edwards, has also said that the health board is working with general practitioners, hospital doctors, and primary health organisations on the process of again referring people into the hospital system.
Why is the Minister gloating about 200 extra operations when the doctors of Canterbury have already identified over 500 patients who were culled from waiting lists and who urgently need to have their operations dealt with; and is it not time that the Government realised that it has gone past the stage where it can keep defending this data cleansing of patients, and that it should put its money where the operations should be?
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR Link to this
We have increased funding for health from $6.6 billion under the previous National Government to over $10.6 billion. We have committed a huge amount of money to the health system. We believe that the booking system introduced by the previous National Government should be a fairer, more honest, and more transparent system, and that is why these changes are being made.
What responsibility will this Minister take when it is his waiting list cull, it is his threats of financial penalties, and it is his pressure for district health boards to meet political ends; and why will he not act, now that the surgeons are telling him that he is letting people die?
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR Link to this
I do not accept the wisdom of the words of that member at all, but I do accept the fact that the district health board has acted, has apologised, and has committed $2 million more in funding to assist the people on the waiting list in Canterbury.
Dr Jonathan Coleman Link to this
Can the Minister explain why it is that, despite the population of Greater Auckland increasing by 160,000 over the past 5 years, there were fewer elective operations performed in the region this year than last, and there were fewer performed last year than 5 years ago; and should we not be seeing more elective surgery as the population grows, rather than fewer?
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR Link to this
The answer is yes to the member’s last assertion. He may not have noticed that in Auckland there has been a brand-new hospital built and that the Auckland District Health Board has been shifted into that hospital. We accept that surgery has not been what it should be. It has improved over the last year and we expect that it will continue to improve.
I seek leave to table two documents. One is an apology from the Canterbury District Health Board for the fact that patients have been culled from a hospital waiting list without a specialist being involved.
Madam SPEAKERI seek leave to table a letter from 74 of the 80 surgeons in the Canterbury District Health Board that warns the Government that under its waiting list policy, patients will die.