6. Hon RUTH DYSON (Labour—Port Hills) Link to this
to the Minister of Health
Does he still stand by his policy to deliver better, sooner, and more convenient health care?
Hon TONY RYALL (Minister of Health) Link to this
Despite the fact that the previous Labour Government left this Government with $160 million of unfunded services to fill and also quietly stripped $150 million out of the health budget before the last election, yes.
What is better, sooner, and more convenient for 72-year-old Gisborne man Mr Bruce Gardiner, who faces 9 months in Waikato Hospital away from his wife and his home because of a shortage of funding for dialysis?
If the member has a specific case that she wants me to comment on, she needs to give me some notice of that. I can tell the member that in Gisborne, the Tairāwhiti District Health Board has received additional funding from the Government of $8.1 million. I am advised that that is the biggest single increase in funding it has had for a decade.
Given the increase in people like Mr Gardiner needing dialysis because of diabetes, why has the Minister agreed to funding cuts of $4.8 million to the “Get Checked” Diabetes Aotearoa programme, which has been hugely successful in South Auckland and other places in detecting diabetes early?
The member’s figures often need to be checked and confirmed, but I can say that if the member is referring to the line-by-line saving in respect of the diabetes “Get Checked” Diabetes Aotearoa programme, that saving was not related to any reduction in services for patients.
Dr Paul Hutchison Link to this
What recent reports has the Minister seen related to delivering a better, more convenient health service?
The Government wants better, sooner, more convenient health services in rural areas, so it is making grants to six innovative projects in the rural care sector. They include a teleradiology project for Fiordland medical practices, Ōtaki primary health organisations’ general practitioner - led clinics targeting kōhanga and kindergartens, Tararua primary health organisations’ mobile service delivery project, Waikato rural pharmacies’ medication project for patients with mild to moderate depression, and Western Bay of Plenty primary health organisations’ flying doctor service.
Does the Minister agree with Dr Jeremy Krebs, the clinical leader of endocrinology and diabetes at Wellington Hospital, who said that the National Government’s decision to allow junk food in tuck shops was “a backward step in dealing with the growing obesity problem in New Zealand, and a step that will mean more people with diabetes in our country.”?
I will make two points to Dr Krebs. First, I want him to know that the previous Labour Government cut funding related to the “Get Checked” Diabetes Aotearoa programme in the months before the previous election. Second, I am sure he would like to know that this National Government believes that it should be left to boards of trustees and parents to decide what is sold in school tuck shops. We simply do not want the Education Review Office running round schools looking for a stray custard square.
I seek leave to table an article in this week’s Gisborne Herald outlining the situation that Mr Bruce Gardiner finds himself in, for the edification of Anne—
Mr SPEAKER