3. Hon TONY RYALL (National—Bay of Plenty) Link to this
to the Minister of Health
Why are New Zealand public hospitals “unacceptably unsafe”?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE (Minister of Health) Link to this
New Zealand’s public hospitals serve the vast majority of New Zealanders very well by international standards, and this country has a better safety record than many overseas countries, including Australia and the United States. I welcomed the recent comments by the Health and Disability Commissioner who, while highlighting substantial improvement over recent years, challenged the system to continue improving quality. The Government has committed to doing this as a top priority.
Does the Minister think New Zealand public hospitals are unsafe, and why should New Zealand patients have any confidence that this Labour Government will deal with unsafe hospitals when it is clear that after the commissioner’s damning comments of 2 years ago, all that he and Mr Hodgson have done is set up yet another committee and write a letter?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
As I have said, I think New Zealand’s public hospital system serves the vast majority of New Zealanders very well. Since becoming Minister of Health, I have not only outlined the Government’s priorities to all district health boards through the annual letter of expectations but tied district health board budgets to progress on the quality and safety agenda.
Jill PettisHon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
Since becoming Minister of Health in November last year, I have, as I said, sent all district health boards a formal letter of expectations outlining my expectations to put quality issues at the top of their agenda. For the first time, we made a proportion of district health board budgets conditional on their meeting performance targets for quality improvement, and we are working cooperatively with nurses, doctors, and other health care staff to push forward the quality agenda. I add that the Prime Minister in her opening speech to Parliament this year emphasised how seriously the Government is pushing this issue.
Barbara StewartDoes the Minister consider that increased monitoring of the public health system will be sufficient on its own to improve the quality of medical care, or will he also investigate measures such as separating elective and emergency surgery?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
Transparency is important, but it is not enough to stop there. We need to build learning organisations that prevent errors from occurring wherever possible. That must involve an active partnership with clinicians at all levels.
Sue KedgleyDoes the Minister agree that it is a shocking state of affairs when we do not even have enough basic information to know whether the rates of infection and medication errors or the numbers of people who die during or shortly after surgery are actually improving in our hospitals or getting worse, and why does he think his predecessors in the health portfolio refused to require the publishing of this information, despite repeated requests by the Green Party and the Health Committee over many years?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
I am advised that under the previous Government such data was not collected at all. This Government set up the Quality Improvement Committee, which has a project under way to collect standardised data for incident reporting and open disclosure across all district health boards. The Quality Improvement Committee is also working on medication safety, infection control, improved patient flows, and a mortality database, which identifies conclusively causes of death.
Hon Peter DunneWill the Minister concede that in spite of significant increases in funding in the public health sector since the year 2000, understaffing and overwork of those existing staff remains a problem and that waiting lists are still far too high, and would he therefore acknowledge that one of the solutions that ought to be considered in order to make New Zealand hospitals safer and more effective is greater use of capacity in the private surgical sector to perform elective surgery procedures?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
In answer to the two parts of that question, I say that, no, I do not accept that the sector is understaffed. This Government has brought in another 2,000 doctors and 4,500 nurses since taking office in 1999. However, I agree with the member that it is important that all theatre capacity, whether public or private, is optimally used, to the benefit of New Zealand patients.
Does the Minister think our hospitals are safe, when a 60-year-old woman with multiple sclerosis was admitted to Auckland City Hospital and for the 4 days she was there did not have her teeth cleaned or her hearing aids put in, had only the food her family took in because she could not eat the food provided, was turned only when the family requested it, and could not read any books because no one would put them in her hands; and after 8 years of a Labour Government and $5 billion extra put into the health budget, is that the standard of care we want to give our grandparents?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
I share the member’s concern that every New Zealand patient is well treated. If the member would be kind enough to follow the normal convention of providing such information privately to the Minister, or in the primary question, rather than playing politics with the issue, then I would be happy to investigate.
Does the Minister think our public hospitals are safe for patients, when a 74-year-old man, during his first 4 days in a public hospital, had no personal care, did not have his bandages changed, was not checked for a rapidly growing infection where an intravenous luer was inserted, and had a different nurse every shift for 4 days; and after 8 years of Labour and $5 billion extra, is that the first-class health system Helen Clark boasted about on Tuesday?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
The Government shares the concern that every New Zealander should receive first-class health care. If the member would like to share information about the case, rather than playing politics with an individual family’s concerns, then I will see that it is followed up.
Does the Minister realise he has actually missed the point of what Ron Paterson was talking about yesterday, because he was not talking just about the major sentinel events where people die but also about the many everyday cases where systemic failure, mistakes, and poor standard of care lead to a lot of inconvenience, suffering, and distress for more and more patients, which is increasingly the reality for many of our older New Zealanders?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
The member may not have heard, but the Government is attaching priority, and requiring district health boards to attach priority, to a broad-based quality and safety agenda. At no time has the Government implied that that is limited only to the most serious events.
Does the Minister realise that the people of New Zealand are rapidly losing confidence in their public health system, with more and more people buying private health insurance to protect themselves; and is this what New Zealanders get after 8 years of Labour and $5 billion extra—unsafe hospitals?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
Repeated surveys show that New Zealanders care greatly about health care, which, amongst other reasons, is why they have returned a Labour Government for three successive terms. That is because we stand for strong public health care, not for lifting doctors’ fees and privatising State assets.
I seek leave to table last year’s Vote Health estimates, where the Health Committee points out that it has repeatedly recommended the publication of hospital-related adverse events, and calls on the Minister to direct district health boards to—
Madam SPEAKERHon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
I seek leave to table my 2008-09 letter of expectations to district health boards.