Crisis in health just a myth, says Hodgson

Pete Hodgson

The health system needs improvement but is nowhere near the crisis point critics claim it to be in, Health Minister Pete Hodgson said yesterday.

Mr Hodgson used his first major speech as Health Minister, an address to the Institute of Policy Studies at Wellington's Victoria University, to round on Opposition politicians and the media, whom he accused of creating an unsubstantiated myth that the sector was in crisis.

Rather, with initiatives such as a major hospital building programme, greater funding for doctors' visits and the meningococcal B vaccination campaign, Labour was getting a substantial return for its multi-billion-dollar investment in health, Mr Hodgson argued.

He accused National of being "aggressively or acrimoniously misleading" in its comments on health, and said the party innately disliked a public service working well.

National's health spokesman Tony Ryall has attacked the Government's record on several fronts in recent weeks, most notably over thousands of patients who have been taken off waiting lists during the past year after being referred by specialists for elective surgery.

Mr Hodgson yesterday conceded elective surgery systems were in need of improvement, work he said was already under way.

"Electives have been in the news, partly courtesy of the crisis syndrome, and partly because we haven't got it right yet."

He said cases had not been adequately prioritised, meaning expectations had been unfairly raised.

"We have to fix that. It is not how the booking system was designed to work. Most district health boards seem to have the right systems in place, but a significant minority do not. Having said that, there is an assumption gaining ground that sending someone back to their GP must be a bad thing.

"A person who has been transparently returned to their GP knows where they stand, they can be assessed by their GP afresh. If their condition deteriorates they can re-enter the booking system. Many do."

Many people referred back to their GPs also got better due to good health, good nutrition or good GP care, Mr Hodgson said.

"Some clinicians are now advising me that about a quarter of all GP referrals can be thus treated."

Ian Powell, executive director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, said the minister's speech was welcome and positive, but said the Government still needed a strategy to address health needs New Zealand was either struggling or failing to meet.

"Senior doctors and other health professionals want to actively engage with the health minister in working together to develop these strategies," Dr Powell said.

"The system is struggling to meet health needs such as chronic illnesses and there is no effective strategy to address the unmet needs of patients waiting for both first specialist assessments and for elective public hospital treatments such as surgery."

For his part Mr Ryall redoubled his attack on waiting lists, saying the speech offered no hope to 180,000 people waiting for operations. He said fewer people were getting elective surgery, and patients now had to be sicker to get operations.

"This is false economy. The consequence is that patients develop chronic conditions that end up costing much more to fix later on," Mr Ryall said.

"What would make a difference to elective surgery numbers is smart use of the private sector, greater involvement by GPs and specialists in decision-making, cuts to bureaucracy and a focus on value for money."


TALKING POINTS

Health Minister Pete Hodgson has set out his six priority areas in the health portfolio. They are:

* Tackling chronic diseases, particularly obesity, "undoubtedly our greatest public health challenge".

* Improving major child health initiatives, including oral health and hearing checks.

* Implementing cheaper doctors visits for 45- to 64-year-olds.

* Increasing investment in care for the aged, especially supporting people to stay in their homes as long as possible.

* Improving cost-effectiveness in the health system.

* Improving quality of health infrastructure, particularly information systems.