KEY POINTS:
The number of people passing through the "gateway" into state-funded elective health care has shrunk, according to Government figures obtained by the National Party.
But the Government says the "slippery figures" released by National's health spokesman, Tony Ryall, tell only part of the story.
The spat is a warm-up for elective surgery becoming a major issue this election year.
Mr Ryall showed yesterday that the number of newly referred patients who had a first assessment by a specialist declined by 2 per cent - from 406,096 in 2001, to 396,512 last year.
This was despite population growth of 8 per cent in that period, plus the increased prevalence of chronic diseases, he said last night.
But Health Minister David Cunliffe's office argued that activity had increased in other areas, such as elective surgery and surgical specialist appointments overall, including both first assessments and follow-up visits.
"Labour has invested heavily and it's paying off," Mr Cunliffe said. "More people are seeing GPs and more people are getting surgical specialist appointments."
Figures he released show that medical specialist appointments decreased from 798,671 in 2000/1 to 782,467 in 2006/7; and that surgical specialist appointments increased from 560,110 to 606,591. Taken together, these figures show a 2 per cent increase.
Mr Ryall said first assessments was the more significant set of figures because they were the gateway into the public elective surgery system.
"The gate has been closed tight and people are struggling to get the chance to be seen by a hospital specialist and get their problem fixed."
He said Labour was making it harder to see specialists, so it could hide the true size of hospital waiting lists.
Mr Cunliffe said National's attempts to paint a dim picture of the health service were a bid to cover its lack of policy.
