Malcolm Mulholland: Public health in crisis, communities must act

Patient Voice Aotearoa (PVA) chairman Malcolm Mulholland will be in Gisborne tomorrow, to speak at a public meeting.

Patient Voice Aotearoa (PVA) chairman Malcolm Mulholland says the public health system is in crisis, but the public is not powerless.

Mulholland, on a nationwide tour where he has spoken to more than 30 communities, is a speaker at Thursday’s public meeting on the state of Gisborne Hospital and healthcare.

The meeting will be held at the House of Breakthrough from 7pm to 8.30pm.

Mulholland said if communities were galvanised and outspoken, more progress would be made.

There needed to be a discussion about “how much we value our public health system”.

Mulholland, when asked about record government spending in health, said PVA had asked for a breakdown of the $30 billion healthcare spend.

“We still haven’t seen anything. That would be a good starting point.”

Mulholland will ask people to sign a Buller Declaration stating that the health system is in crisis and calling on the Government to urgently address it.

The declaration will be presented to Parliament on November 18.

Mulholland has accepted an invitation to speak in Ruatōria on Friday.