11. KEVIN HAGUE (Green) Link to this
to the Minister of Health
Does he stand by his support for In Good Hands, the report which outlines the importance of clinical leadership in health decision-making?
Hon TONY RYALL (Minister of Health) Link to this
Kia ora koutou. I commissioned the report In Good Hands as part of the new Government’s drive to engage doctors and nurses in the running of the New Zealand public health service.
Why, then, has the Minister removed the previously agreed requirement for district health boards to consult with health professionals before making decisions to contract out services to the private sector?
Under the National Government, district health boards do not need a protocol to talk to their staff. We expect them to be working closely with their clinical teams to share problems and solutions, and that direction underpins all arrangements in the public health service.
Why did the Minister choose not to consult with the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists before making his changes to encourage more contracting of surgery to the private sector; is it because he knows that they would oppose his moves to undermine public health care?
The public is very clear on what this new Government campaigned on: improving access to elective surgery, smarter use of the private sector, and giving doctors and nurses more say. What is very clear in the protocols that the new Government has approved is a commitment that public hospitals must ensure that when harnessing the resource of the private sector the long-term viability of their own resource is not to be undermined.
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. My question asked about consultation with the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists. The Minister has not addressed that point at all.
Mr SPEAKERI discussed this policy several times with members of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists before the election. I think everyone was well aware of National’s policy; that is the reason why we got that endorsement during the election.
Michael Woodhouse Link to this
Tēnā koe, Mr Speaker. What feedback has the Minister received in relation to his promotion of the In Good Hands report, and why is it important?
The feedback from the public health sector, including the representatives of the senior doctors, has been incredibly supportive. The reason the Government places such high importance on that report is that it promotes clinical leadership. The greatest challenge facing the public health service today is workforce, workforce, and workforce. Our drive to clinical leadership is about engaging and involving doctors and nurses in the public health service to give them greater job satisfaction and to improve retention.
Is it not true that the Minister is deliberately weakening public health care to force New Zealanders to take out private health insurance, so that he can cut the health budget in the face of expensive new technologies, an ageing population, and epidemics of chronic disease?
No, that simply cannot be true. The new member has been writing newspaper articles saying that the Government’s plan to increase the number of publicly funded, publicly owned elective surgery theatres is madness. Yet, at the same time, he says that we are privatising them. It does not make sense.
Hon Ruth DysonIf the Minister is so committed to clinical leadership in the health sector, what does he say to Professor Boyd Swinburn, former medical director of the National Heart Foundation, who described the National Government’s dismantling of anti-obesity policies as “descending into being a ‘ninny state’ ”, where the food industry controls politicians?