Hutchison Paul: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Hutchison Paul: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
[Sitting date: 01 August 2012. Volume:682;Page:4227. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Dr PAUL HUTCHISON (Chairperson of the Health Committee) 
: It is an absolute pleasure to speak on the estimates of Vote Health because the National Government has been growing and protecting our public health service during very tough times. In fact these latest estimates are a benchmark in showing that we are investing $14.1 billion in health. This is $2 billion more than was invested back in 2008 and we are making every endeavour to ensure that every health dollar is well spent with better services and less bureaucracy. 
Undoubtedly it is quite extraordinary that this Government has been prepared to continue during these tough times to invest in this very vital area of health in education and of course in science and innovation—all areas where the increased investment has occurred. I think it was particularly significant a few weeks ago when under the excellent leadership of the Hon Tony Ryall it was pointed out that New Zealand had the third-highest growth in health spending of 28 OECD nations for 2009-10. This is quite remarkable as the average growth of health investment by OECD nations was zero. During these tough times there have been quite a few countries that have actually reduced spending such as Denmark Norway and the UK where there have been considerable funding cuts. We have seen New Zealand continue to invest in health with spending increasing by 3.4 percent per year in real terms which is a very remarkable record. We now have the fifth-highest level of public health spending as a percentage of GDP in the OECD. This may or may not be a great thing but I believe that in New Zealand’s case where we are concentrating on increasing productivity and increasing front-line services we are indeed making great headway. 
I think we have seen across the spectrum in the world—for example countries like Singapore which has a remarkable spend on health totalling about 4 percent of GDP compared with Australia which is a bit above us. I think for public and private we are at about 10 percent; public is probably at about 8 percent. Australia is a wee bit above that and the UK a bit under. 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: A much younger population. 
Dr PAUL HUTCHISON 
: It has a much younger population as you say. But the United States is at about 18 percent of GDP. In Singapore Singaporeans live longer and infant mortality is less than half of ours. So what we have got to do is exactly what the Government has been doing: increasing focus on diminishing bureaucracy bringing in the front-line services and ensuring that productivity is increased. This is in stark contrast with what happened with the previous Labour Government which doubled the health budget yet in real terms fewer people got operations—an awful indictment on those last years. 
It is very very encouraging when we look at what has happened to the health workforce over the last 4 years. Only today I got the updated numbers and I understand we have delivered over 1000 extra doctors in the last 4 years and 2400 extra nurses in public hospitals. That is a pretty good record because all we heard from the previous Labour Government was Annette King strutting around talking about her workforce reports. She had 42 of them—42 of them in 9 years—with very little increase in the workforce during that time. It was a huge amount of talk. 
It is very exciting again that this National-led Government has brought in a programme to combat rheumatic fever a Third World disease which indeed was identified by the previous Labour Government. It talked and talked but it did nothing. In these estimates there is an increase of $12 million which adds to the previous $12 million and already those children in various parts of New Zealand are being swabbed and treated as appropriate. 
Of course not only has the National Government done that but also it has insulated in the order of 140000 homes—more than that Tony Ryall says; it is more than that. One hundred and sixty thousand? It is something like that. Whatever it is it is a significant amount and a significant amount more than the previous Labour Government ever did. 
Then we go on to elective surgery. Once again the record of this National Government is extraordinary. Twenty-seven thousand extra patients a year are now getting elective surgery. Indeed we have decided that there is going to be a new target. We are lifting our game by ensuring that all patients booked for elective surgery receive it within no more than 4 months by the end of 2014. That was something the Labour Government could never have dreamed of. What did it do? What was the term? “Cull”. It used to cull patients in their thousands—not just in their thousands but in their tens of thousands. Thirty thousand at a time were culled by the previous Labour Government from waiting lists. 
I must say that I am very very excited by the National Government’s record in immunisation because it is spectacular. It is absolutely spectacular that only 4 years ago for the average 2-year-old the immunisation rate was 73 percent and it has now boosted to 92 percent. In 4 years’ time it has gone from 73 percent to 92 percent. This is one of the most effective methods of preventive health that we know of and under National it has been delivered. We have set a new and ambitious target for this as well: to have 95 percent of 8-month-old children fully immunised by the end of 2014. 
I think it is worthwhile at this point acknowledging all those wonderful health professionals who are out there making this happen up and down the length and breadth of New Zealand. They have been absolutely wonderful with the passion they have for their patients. I must say I happened to be in Middlemore Hospital the other day with a relative who was having a baby and the service she had was superb. Ten years ago there might have been six or seven shifts during a 24-hour labour but while I was there one midwife came on for 12 hours during the day and during the night there was another midwife for 12 hours. It was very very impressive. Then my relative went off to a little country hospital in Pukekohe where they looked after her just superbly. There was no rushing home; she was allowed to go home when she wanted to when she was ready to go home and when the breast milk was in. It was all being done under a new philosophy and a new efficiency where front-line services are being focused on by an excellent National Government. 
I want to say that the zero fees for doctors’ visits for under-sixes scheme is also going extremely well under this Government. National has boosted the proportion of children under 6 receiving free doctors’ visits during the daytime to 93 percent. That has got to be pretty good. This is a massive improvement since 2008 when it was 70 percent—70 percent at the end of Labour’s tenure.