6. GRANT ROBERTSON (Labour—Wellington Central) Link to this
to the Minister of Health
Are district health boards being funded sufficiently to maintain the level of services they provided in 2010/11?
Hon TONY RYALL (Minister of Health) Link to this
District health boards are being funded with the expectation of providing more overall services, particularly in areas of patient priorities like more surgery, faster cancer treatment, more children immunised, and faster emergency departments. District health boards make decisions within their increased budgets, and, as the member is well aware, the Government has always said that we expect that some programmes will be slowed, scaled, or stopped. All money saved in health stays in health.
Was the increase in funding in dollar terms for district health boards in the 2011-12 Budget sufficient to meet the cost of inflation and population growth faced by district health boards?
As I have told the member previously, we cannot actually give a firm answer to that at present, because additional funds will flow to district health boards during the financial year.
Was Stuart Bramhall, a recently retired senior psychiatrist at Taranaki Base Hospital, correct when she told the Taranaki Daily News that before her retirement, a lack of funding meant her patients “couldn’t be properly cared for”?
That is not the information that I have. What I do know is that the Taranaki District Health Board has had an increase of $29 million over the last 3 years, and I think the feedback I am getting from Taranaki is that the services have really improved there.
Hilary CalvertGiven that much of the increased health spending between 2001 and 2006 was eroded by productivity losses of 15 percent for doctors and 11 percent for nurses, does he agree that simply throwing money at hospitals is not the answer; if so, what concrete evidence can he provide for improved hospital productivity since he became Minister?
Throwing more money at the health service is not the answer. Actually, the Labour Government doubled the health budget in its 9 years and got fewer operations, so we know that is not the case. We have put in an additional $1.5 billion of new money into health over the last 3 years, but I think if one looks at the record numbers of elective surgeries, the much-faster cancer radiation treatment, faster emergency departments, and better preventive health, then one can see the better productivity that New Zealanders have been seeking. Frankly, we could not have achieved that without improved productivity.
Was Stuart Bramhall, a recently retired senior psychiatrist at Taranaki Base Hospital, lying when she told the Taranaki Daily News that before her retirement, lack of funding meant patients “couldn’t be properly cared for”?
That really is a silly a question. I am sure Dr Bramhall believes what she told the paper. What I can say is that we have put an additional $29 million into the Taranaki District Health Board, and during that time, we have seen quite a significant improvement in the number of staff working there. For example, we have many more nurses working there than we had at that hospital 2½ years ago.
Mr SPEAKERI appreciate that it was not a question that the Minister liked, but it was a direct question asking whether the clinician mentioned was lying.
No, no, no. The member knows that he cannot expect a Minister to say yes or no about whether someone is lying. The Minister explained why he disagrees with that clinician, and the Minister is perfectly at liberty to explain why he disagrees with the clinician.
Is it acceptable for nursing staff at Taranaki Base Hospital to regularly double-shift and not to have a complete 9-hour break between shifts, as was reported in the Taranaki Daily News story on Monday?
The Taranaki District Health Board has had increased funding of $29 million over the last 3 years, and it has more nurses working there than 2½ years ago. How the district health board manages its services, and the way staff move around the hospital to meet those demands, is the responsibility of the district health board. What I can assure the member is that this Government has given the district health board quite a lot of extra money.