5. NICKY WAGNER (National) Link to this
to the Minister of Health
What progress is the Government making in providing more surgery for New Zealanders?
Hon TONY RYALL (Minister of Health) Link to this
I am pleased to advise the House that in the last financial year more patients have received surgery than ever before. The number of patients benefiting from urgent surgery rose by nearly 4,000 to over 158,000 patients, and the number of people coming off waiting lists and benefiting from elective surgery rose by over 8,500 to 138,483. This means that in the last financial year nearly 300,000 New Zealand patients benefited from surgery in our public health service—the highest number ever.
What other reports has he received in relation to delivering more surgical services to New Zealanders?
The number of patients receiving a surgical specialist assessment in the last year was up by over 12,000 on the previous year, to over 274,000 patients. This includes an increase of 1,100 patients receiving first specialist assessments in Auckland, an increase of 1,100 in the Bay of Plenty, over 2,000 more in Canterbury, and an increase of over 3,000 patients in the Waikato. This Government is delivering more front-line services, especially surgical services, to the people of New Zealand.
Hon Ruth DysonHow does the additional surgery that the Minister is crowing about, of 8,607 patients, compare with the additional number of 11,816 patients for the 2008 financial year?
Quite clearly, this Government is increasing the number of elective operations for New Zealanders. Since the time of the previous Government, about 20,000 extra elective operations are being performed. It is a tremendous record, and that member should stop trying to bring it down.
What is he going to do about the 3 percent increase in patients—that is, more than 2,000 people—who were admitted to hospital with preventable conditions, as revealed in the annual report of the Ministry of Health for the year ended 30 June 2010; a 3 percent increase?
That is why we are providing more service in the public health service than ever before, with more doctors, more nurses, more operations, and more front-line services. This Government is also investing strongly in our home insulation programme, whereby five times as many homes have been insulated under this Government than under the failed crowd opposite.