8. Hon TONY RYALL (National—Bay of Plenty) Link to this
to the Minister of Health
Has he been advised of the finding of the Business Council For Sustainable Development survey which says that 78 percent of New Zealanders believe the public health service has worsened or stayed the same over the past 5 years; if so, what is his reaction?
Hon PETE HODGSON (Minister of Health) Link to this
Yes, I have. But given that the same survey showed that 78 percent of respondents also thought that doctors’ fees had stayed the same, or increased, in the past 5 years—when it is known that they have gone down—some of these emailing respondents may not be as well informed as we would like. Indeed, if the Ministry of Health ever needed a reason to run a campaign to let people know that doctors’ fees are now lower and that it is now cheaper to get a regular preventive health check, this survey is it.
Does this survey not show that despite spending an extra $5 billion a year on health, New Zealanders have noticed no improvement in the health system, and New Zealanders are saying they are waiting longer and longer for health care across the board?
The member has not noticed that about a year ago we finally got to a situation where folk who were going to be promised elective surgery got that surgery reliably within 6 months. That policy was put in place by the National Government in the late 1990s; it now works. It may be that some of these emailing respondents have not recently had a hip replacement.
Lesley SoperWere views expressed in the survey about taxation and public health services and the quality of patient care?
The survey showed that 62 percent of respondents prefer to pay taxes into a health fund ahead of personal tax cuts—62 percent. Also, far from services getting worse, 67 percent of New Zealanders thought that the quality of patient care had stayed the same or improved over the past 5 years.
How can the Minister say that New Zealanders are more satisfied with the health system, when despite spending an extra $5 billion a year, it is clear that the survey he has just quoted from shows that more and more New Zealanders are waiting longer and longer for elective surgery, longer and longer for emergency and after-hours care, and longer and longer for chemo and radiation therapy; and is that not the reason why the Prime Minister should give him his marching orders in 2 weeks’ time?
I say sorry to Mr Ryall for letting the facts get in the way of a good story, but here is a fact: there are more elective surgical services done in New Zealand public hospitals now than there have ever been. That is a fact. Here is another fact: 67 percent of New Zealanders thought that the quality of patient care in this country had stayed the same or improved over the past 5 years. I do not know why New Zealanders think that, but that figure is from the survey the member has asked me about—that is what the survey says.
Is it not another fact that despite doubling the health budget in 7 years, the number of New Zealanders getting elective surgery on a per head of population basis has gone up only 5 percent in 7 years?
We have a concession from Mr Ryall. After 2 years as Opposition spokesperson on health, and for the first time in my time as Minister of Health, my opposite number has said that the number of elective surgical services has gone up. What will he do with all his press statements that have been saying for month after month, year after year, that the number of elective surgical services has been going down? What will he do with those press statements? Will he now issue a repudiating press statement? What will he do?