2. Dr JACKIE BLUE (National) Link to this
to the Minister of Health
Does he stand by all his recent statements on health services?
Hon TONY RYALL (Minister of Health) Link to this
Yes, including the statement that a new 25-bed ward was opened at North Shore Hospital yesterday by Dr Jonathan Coleman, which means patients will not have to wait so long to be admitted. That ward is a response to the 6-hour emergency department target. I can also advise that up to 10 of the beds will be available for acute stroke patients, and that means that, for the first time at North Shore Hospital, acute stroke patients will be located in the same part of the hospital. It is easier to deliver specialist services in one place, so the quality of care will be improved.
What other developments are happening at the Waitemata District Health Board that will improve patient services, particularly at Waitakere Hospital in west Auckland?
In the last few weeks Waitakere Hospital has done hip replacement operations for the first time, and that will be followed later this year by other joint replacements, such as knees, being delivered locally. I am also advised that Waitakere Hospital is launching 24/7 emergency services for children under 15 next month. That will further develop Waitakere Hospital as the local hospital for children in that area. That will save up to 3,000 kids and their families having to make the journey to Starship hospital from west Auckland every year. That is very positive news for the people of west Auckland, and I thank the local member, Paula Bennett, for her part in advancing health services for the people of Waitakere.
Does he stand by his recent statement that the new Government inherited a lot of problems in Dunedin, including important building needs that had been neglected for years?
Yes, I do. That is why the Government has invested an extra $24.5 million in developments at the Southern District Health Board’s facilities in Dunedin. Included in those is a new neo-natal intensive care unit of 19 cots replacing a cramped unit that would meet the standard for three babies. That will improve the privacy of families and allow more parents to stay with their babies. We are also funding $15 million for new acute mental health facilities at Wakari Hospital. According to the Ministry of Health, Dunedin’s ward 1A—mental health—has the highest priority of any mental health unit in the country in terms of replacement, and it is good that the people of Dunedin finally have a Government that is prepared to invest in their hospital.
Hon Ruth DysonWhy did he tell the House yesterday that the MidCentral District Health Board budget is $505 million, when the Budget document confirms that it is $408 million?
Because that member is not accounting for the additional electives money, the additional medicines money, and the additional services that will flow to district health boards. That member does not want to accept the fact that more and more people in the Mid-Central District Health Board’s area are getting better front-line services from this Government.
When he told the House that health cuts were actually health changes, what comfort will that be to a terminally ill person in Palmerston North who has been unable to find any alternative to the night-shift district nursing service—an alternative service that the Minister assured the House was available?
If the facts of that case are correct and the member makes it available to me, I will look into it. The hospice in Palmerston North is paid to provide those sorts of services.
What will he say no to when the district health boards cannot continue delivering their existing level of services because of a budget shortfall? Will he say no to further cuts in services, deterioration in the quality of services, increased user charges, or increased district health board deficits?