9. Hon TONY RYALL (National—Bay of Plenty) Link to this
to the Minister of Health
Does he have confidence in the quality of service provided by the Whanganui District Health Board over the past year, and why?
Hon PETE HODGSON (Minister of Health) Link to this
For the most part I do. However, the quality of service in some areas has clearly not been up to scratch, which is why there has been a series of responses from the Ministry of Health and from the Health and Disability Commissioner.
Why does he still have confidence in the members of the Whanganui District Health Board, when investigations are now under way into botched sterilisations, 600 patients—including a number with cancer—missed out on specialist care because of a so-called systems error, and there has been a never-ending series of staffing crises in ophthalmology, paediatrics, and obstetrics; why does he still have confidence in the members of this board?
Jill PettisThere have been a number of initiatives. A major review, which began last May, is due for completion in the next couple of weeks. The aim is to identify improvement that can be made because of the new, $30 million building project now under construction. In December last year the ministry put the district health board on an intensive monitoring framework, and appointed a very senior adviser to ensure the board is able to comprehensively address the issues it faces. Further assistance may be offered the district health board shortly.
Barbara StewartIs it fair to say that the ongoing saga of inadequate staffing levels and medical mishaps being experienced by the people of Wanganui and their district health board is symptomatic of workforce problems throughout the country; if so, what is the Minister doing to rectify the situation?
The member raises a very good point. It seems to me that the future of the Whanganui District Health Board is bright; however, for it to secure that future it must be much more active in developing a regional approach to the configuration of services. That is precisely what I told the board when I met with it most recently—I think, about 2 weeks ago. I am pleased to say that it warmly agreed with me.
Can the Minister imagine what the people of Wanganui must think is going on in their hospital, with this never-ending series of crises; and is it not time that he put the members of the Whanganui District Health Board out of their misery and started afresh?
Does the Minister not realise that it is the fact of blood, the fact of the torment of women who have gone through failed sterilisations, of patients who should have seen cancer specialists but did not, and of women being shipped to Palmerston North to have children, and the fact of a district health board member describing his own hospital as being unsafe that make this the sort of issue on which a Minister should step in and say: “You have failed. You should go.”?
I could get to the top of the news any day of the week by sacking the board and appointing a commissioner. It is an option that is open to me, and it remains open to me. I would much prefer to think through the best way to have this matter resolved. Simply sacking the board, though it looks nice and strong and decisive, would not actually achieve anything; the following day, the hospital would still be there, the people of Wanganui would still need care, and there would be no board to give it. It is an option, it is still an option for me, and I have not said I will not do it, but I say to the member that when I do it, it will be because I have decided that the board is the problem, and right now it is much more part of the solution than it is the problem.
Why does the Minister not take the lead of his predecessor, Mrs King, who, after a year of lurching from crisis to crisis, sacked the board of the Tairāwhiti District Health Board; why does he not do the same with this district health board, which is simply failing to deliver the care that its own people expect? Can he not imagine what the people of Wanganui are now thinking, with this never-ending series of crises? He should take the lead from Mrs King and put these people out of their misery.
The member has, it seems, one solution only: if there is a problem, go and sack someone. I might say that running a health system is a little more complicated than that, and a little more subtle. I will say that in respect of paediatrics, obstetrics, gynaecology, missing patients, and a doctor who apparently cannot carry out laparoscopic operations, sacking the board does not fix any of those things, as long as the board is part of the solution. The minute the board becomes part of the problem, it is gone.
Chester BorrowsDoes the Minister agree that, in answer to repeated questions in this House regarding the operation of the Whanganui District Health Board since October 2005, the Minister has always argued that the incidents were isolated; and what confidence can Wanganui people have that there will not be another tragic, isolated incident tomorrow, or the day after that, or the day after that?
Despite the dearth of questioning on the Whanganui District Health Board from the member for Whanganui, I do not consider these matters entirely in isolation. Why would I have this board on the most intensive monitoring framework that there is? The member does not realise that months before he came upon trouble at his own district health board the ministry and I were on to it. We remain on to it.
Madam SPEAKERMembers require Ministers to address questions. You have a Minister who is addressing the question. Please hear the Minister in silence.