WELLINGTON - Labour intends to scrap the controversial booking system for hospital surgery, according to draft policy papers leaked by the Government yesterday.
The papers indicate that a key plank of the Labour health policy, due to be announced next week, is to scrap the system, which provoked widespread criticism after
its introduction during this term of the National Government.
"Waiting times for elective surgery continue to be unacceptably long in a number of areas," the policy paper says.
"Labour will replace the current booking system with a timely elective surgery system which will provide certainty about when people will get the surgery they need ... Any patient deemed by a specialist to have an agreed clinical need for surgery will be able to be placed on a public hospital waiting list."
The papers were leaked to Health Minister Wyatt Creech, who gave them to the news media yesterday. Labour said the policy was an early draft and it would probably release its final policy next week. It did not intend to comment until then.
Mr Creech described the Labour health policy as an election-year fumble, saying the booking system was a fair and clear method of ensuring that people who needed operations got them.
The old hospital waiting-list system was outdated and had been shown not to work, he said.
The booking system has not been universally popular, however. It was criticised at its introduction over the number of patients dropped off hospital waiting lists because they were not considered sick enough.
Other proposals in the leaked papers are to disband the Health Funding Authority and scrap the profit motive in hospitals.
Mr Creech said Labour's proposed restructuring would cost taxpayers while providing nothing extra.
"All it boils down to is Labour wanting to turn the structure of the health sector on its head for no good health reason."
- NZPA
