4. TIM MACINDOE (National—Hamilton West) Link to this
to the Minister of Health
What was the average annual increase in elective discharges from 2000/2001 to 2007/2008, and how does this compare to the average annual increase in elective discharges over the last three financial years?
Hon TONY RYALL (Minister of Health) Link to this
Official reports from the Ministry of Health advise that the average annual growth in elective discharges over the 7 years 2000-01 to 2007-08 was 1,432 a year. This was less than the population growth over the same period, meaning there was a cut in access—[ Interruption]
Mr SPEAKERI apologise to the Minister, and I apologise to the House. My hearing is terrible today—a bug has got into my ears. I can hear clearly when there is not a lot of noise, but when there was a high level of interjection I found I could not hear any of the numbers the Minister was giving. As the question was from a National backbencher, it is reasonable that he should be able to hear the answer too. I think the level of interjection was just unreasonable. I ask the Hon Tony Ryall whether he would not mind starting his answer again for me, please, and I want to hear it.
Official reports from the Ministry of Health advise that the average annual growth in elective discharges over the years 2000-01 to 2007-08 was 1,432 a year. This was less than the population growth over the same period, meaning there was a cut in access to elective surgery. Over the last 3 years the average annual growth in patients benefiting from elective treatment has risen by an average of 9,000 a year. This is an annual increase of over six times that of the previous Government.
Well, this outstanding performance by district health boards means that many more people are getting the care they need to have a better quality of life. It means an extra 500 patients a week—for example, an extra 23,000 people aged 65 and over have had operations for things like hip replacements and cataracts, and there have been an extra 4,900 operations to fix ear, nose, and throat conditions. This has been delivered as part of the Government’s $1.5 billion investment of new money into health over 3 years, and the Government would like to thank the many doctors, nurses, and other health professionals who have delivered this fantastic result for New Zealand patients.
Grant RobertsonI seek leave of the House to table the September 2008 case-weighted discharge monitoring report that shows that over the term of the last Labour Government there was a 38.6 percent increase in case-weighted surgery.