10. Hon TONY RYALL (National—Bay of Plenty) Link to this
to the Minister of Health
Does he stand by his statement of 19 May 2008 that “in 2001/02 there were 199 discharges from elective surgery procedures per 10,000 people. In 2006/07 that had grown by 207 people per 10,000”; if so, why?
Hon DAMIEN O’CONNOR (Associate Minister of Health) Link to this
Yes; but as the member was advised last Friday in reply to his written question, there was a typo in the statement and the word “by” should have been “to”. It should have read that “in 2001/02 there were 199 discharges from elective surgery procedures per 10,000 people. In 2006/07 that had grown to 207 people per 100,000”. New Zealanders will see this as great news about our well-resourced public health system.
Can the Minister confirm that this data only counts elective surgery for adults, not children, and that when children are included the elective surgery rates per head of population have hardly changed at all; and is this another example of what he calls a “factual misunderstanding”?
Hon DAMIEN O’CONNOR Link to this
I have explained the typographical error. I confirm that those figures relate just to adults, but even when we take into account elective surgery for children we see that the rate has gone up. I cannot trust any of the statistics from slippery National Party members. I am quite happy to go away and find out the details of any of the questions the member has and give him factual answers, not the fiction that he keeps coming up with.
Jill PettisCan the Minister confirm that notwithstanding Mr Ryall’s constant attempts to undermine the health system, the number of elective surgeries has increased under this Labour Government; if so, by how many?
Hon DAMIEN O’CONNOR Link to this
Yes; last year alone 7,000 more elective procedures were carried out than in the previous year. It is about time the National Party fronted up and told New Zealanders how deep the cuts would be to the public health system if National were ever given the chance to take the reins of power.
Does the Minister stand by other surgery-related figures he has released, such as his claim that the number of patients getting a surgical first specialist assessment had doubled under Labour, when he must have known he was comparing a half-year result in 2001 with a full-year result in 2007; and what sort of “factual misunderstanding” is that?
Hon DAMIEN O’CONNOR Link to this
Again, those are slippery figures from Tony Ryall. The reality is that in 2001 there were 123,943 surgical first specialist assessments and in 2007 there were 241,000. That is the kind of progress that we have made in the public health system, and I know that under a National Government New Zealanders will be bound to John Key’s philosophy: “Well, in the end it’s called the market. If general practitioners decide to charge a lot more, then probably someone will go down the road.” That is his attitude to general practitioner fees and the public health system, and it is the attitude of Tony Ryall as well.
Is the Minister aware that the 2001 figure he gave is a half-year figure and that is why the figure doubled, and that in fact there has been a complete flat-line showing that fewer New Zealanders get a first specialist appointment today than 9 years ago?
Hon DAMIEN O’CONNOR Link to this
I quoted the figures that have been given to me, and I do not for a moment believe any of the statistics that are put out by National Party members, because they have to change them time and time again, as they do with their policy and ideas.
What sort of factual misunderstanding is behind the Minister’s claim yesterday that hospital emergency departments are performing well for seriously ill and injured patients—triage 2—where he said: “Auckland is seeing these patients faster”, when in fact it is taking longer, and when some of our biggest emergency departments like Waitemata and Wellington are falling behind?
Hon DAMIEN O’CONNOR Link to this
I do not accept the member’s claims for a moment. We are constantly barraged by wild claims, accusations, and attacks on the public health system by National Party members. They are not prepared to front up and say what National would do should it ever get into power. We know that National would undermine and dismantle the public health system, and we would see a drastic reduction in all services. This Government has put billions of dollars of extra funding into the public health system, and it is delivering more benefits to New Zealanders in every single area of its performance.
When the Minister talked about a “factual misunderstanding” last week, did he mean that he misspoke; and what other “Clintonesque” excuse does he have for the fact that despite the doubling of the public health budget there has been hardly any increase in elective surgery or first specialist assessments for New Zealanders?
Hon DAMIEN O’CONNOR Link to this
That member might call it “hardly any”, but I say that 10,000 additional elective surgeries is a huge improvement that has made a huge difference to the lives of at least 7,000 New Zealanders. If that member wants to belittle that progress and what that has done for 7,000 New Zealanders, then God help us if he ever were to become Minister of Health.
Rt Hon Winston Peters Link to this
I seek leave to table evidence that the dramatic increase in hospital operations in this country occurred in 1998 as a result of the New Zealand First budgetary initiatives, which—
Madam SPEAKERI seek leave to table a press statement that used the figures the Minister used in his answer, which was subsequently retracted—