KEY POINTS:
The National Party says designated doctors are signing up large numbers of people for sickness benefits.
National MP Judith Collins said figures showed one doctor issued or renewed 325 medical certificates for sickness benefit entitlements in the December 2005 quarter.
"In the quarter ending December 2006, that same doctor issued 299 certificates, or 4.8 per day, and in the quarter ending March 31, 2007, they issued 285 certificates or 4.4 every working day."
Mrs Collins said that in July 2005, Work and Income introduced a process to allow case managers to refer people to its designated doctors. At the same time, Work and Income had increased the fees it paid its designated doctors for a medical assessment from $67 to $119, she said.
A spokeswoman for Social Development Minister David Benson-Pope said that if Mrs Collins was suggesting doctors were fraudulently issuing certificates to collect the fee, she should take this up with the Medical Council.
She also said that the Ministry of Social Development would not pay all the fees as some beneficiaries would pay.
In response to written questions from Mrs Collins, Mr Benson-Pope said the Work and Income designated doctor practised in the Auckland metro region.
The doctor worked with a "challenging" client base in an area where there was a high number of people with "significant" health needs and a range of barriers to employment.
"Doctors work a variety of hours with different population bases in metro, provincial and rural areas and have a range of specialities. Taking these into account, the distribution of certificates is not unusual."
Mr Benson-Pope's spokeswoman said it was a fact of life that some areas had larger numbers of beneficiaries.
- NZPA
