Verrall, accompanied by Gisborne-based list MP Jo Luxton and Ikaroa-Rāwhiti MP Cushla Tangaere-Manuel, visited several health providers, including Ngāti Porou Oranga, Tūranga Health, Mātai Medical Research Institute and Three Rivers Medical.
“They are doing magnificent work and we need to back them to provide their services,” she said.
The health system was getting worse and the Government was responsible for that, Verrall said.
It was the first time since 1999 that inflation-adjusted funding per person had gone down, she said. That was despite the Government “boasting” of its investment in health.
The Government was focusing on short-term issues that would not make people well, such as repealing smoke-free legislation and not employing graduate nurses, she said.
“Most importantly, they are not investing sufficiently in primary care and GPs.
“In my view, the challenges in our hospitals won’t get better until everyone in New Zealand has access to primary healthcare.”
Verrall said one in six New Zealanders could not go to primary healthcare because of costs at a time when families faced cost-of-living pressures and unemployment.
It was better for individuals and for the health system if people received treatment early – at the primary healthcare stage – “so our hospitals are free for when you need them”.
Verrall said the Government had an emphasis on hospitals when it needed to be on primary care.
She told of a man who could not afford to go to his GP or take a day off work. His condition worsened, and he needed hospital treatment at a cost to the taxpayer of $1000 a day.
“That is happening again, again and again.”
A former Health Minister, she knew priorities had to be established.
“We really have to fix care in our community - make sure we’re backing our doctors, nurses and other professionals.”
Verrall accepted health received much funding from respective governments, and issues remained.
“We have to take every opportunity we can to prevent ill-health.”
That was why Labour had passed “world-leading” smoke-free legislation and invested in healthy home programmes.
“We have to do more in general practice. We have to shift our system from one focused on curing illnesses late in hospital to one that is more focused on keeping you healthy in the community. The hospital is still there when you need it. That is the only way out of the financial sustainability challenge.”
Tangaere-Manuel said the local health providers told the MPs that “if they were supported in doing what they do well, then we will be well, our community will be well”.
“They all want healthy communities.”
Luxton said she was impressed by the weekend and public holiday after-hours GP service provided by Ngāti Porou Oranga at Puhi Kaiti Medical Centre.
The service was introduced earlier this year in conjunction with Health NZ at a time when no after-hours service was available in Gisborne.
Luxton said children received free treatment, while other fees were affordable. This was helping to “reduce barriers to whānau accessing healthcare when they needed it and not ending up in ED”.
