7. Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN (National—Northcote) Link to this
to the Minister of Health
What action, if any, is he taking to address continuing industrial unrest across the health sector?
Hon PETE HODGSON (Minister of Health) Link to this
District health boards, which are the employers, advise me that over recent months various settlements have been reached involving radiotherapists, laboratory workers, medical radiation technologists, and service and food workers. Senior doctors’ negotiations are both protracted and ongoing, nurses’ negotiations are proceeding well at this time, and a range of other negotiations—too long to list—have begun or are scheduled to begin.
Dr Jonathan Coleman Link to this
Is the Minister aware that because of industrial action, heart patients have been missing out on essential surgery and, as a result, suffering serious heart attacks, and is it not time he realised that there is a human cost to his mismanagement of the health system?
The member may not be aware that there are life-preserving services in the New Zealand legislation—in our black-letter law. They are used whenever there is an industrial dispute, and I am not aware of anyone’s life being at risk as the result of an industrial dispute, to date.
Barbara StewartWould he agree that the current failure of senior doctors’ pay talks does no credit to the district health boards, the doctors, and the Government in equal measure, and that the ultimate losers will be New Zealanders, who depend on the health system; if so, how long will the Government maintain its hands-off approach?
Yes, it is true that the negotiations have been going on for longer than a year, but let us remember that the last time senior doctors were in negotiations they negotiated for longer than a year, too. Certainly, none of the stopwork meetings, which have been long signalled and well advertised, have themselves disrupted health care, to my knowledge. But, yes, it is time that these negotiations came to a conclusion, and I do hope to see progress.
Maryan StreetCould the Minister advise us about the life-preserving services legislation that is in existence currently, and could he particularly advise us on how that law came about and whether it was in existence 10 years ago?
Yes. There is good law, and quite what it states is for each of us to read. It is a part of New Zealand’s statutes. It came about because the district health boards and the Council of Trade Unions agreed on a code, which was then legislated for. To answer the member’s other question, no, it did not exist 10 years ago, because back then was the period of the Employment Contracts Act, which did not promote codes of that sort and did not even recognise in law that unions existed. We have moved on from that, thank goodness.
Dr Jonathan Coleman Link to this
Is the Minister surprised to hear that a Glenfield heart patient, Mr Rick Donnelly, was told by doctors that he needed bypass surgery, yet Auckland District Health Board bureaucrats said they could not give him any certainty that he would ever get his operation, after which time he had a further heart attack; and does the Minister consider that that is an acceptable situation?
I do not deal with individual cases. [ Interruption] Oh, I see. Let me just say again—and I hope this time I get a chance to be heard—that I do not deal with individual cases without notice, but I am very happy to look at the case that the member raises, or any other case. If the member wants to shroud wave, he needs to be careful that he has all of the facts. The long and short of it is that the primary question was about industrial unrest, and I am not sure whether there has been any at North Shore Hospital in the last month.
Dr Jonathan Coleman Link to this
Does the Minister accept the explanation of the Auckland District Health Board that a key factor in the failure to deliver cardiac surgery for patients like Mr Donnelly has been the effect of strike action, and does he realise that his failure to resolve industrial unrest in our hospitals is adversely affecting the health of New Zealanders?
I am not able to comment on an individual case, as I explained in my answer to the last supplementary question, but I will say to the member something quite uncomplicated, and that is that there was more elective surgery in this country in the year finished 30 June than there has ever been in our history. Can we please give some credit to the people who do that work, who get those patients seen, even though there might be industrial unrest. We have set a new record. Why are we not pleased about that, and why are we not thankful to the health professionals who get it done?