7. Question No. 7—HealthDr SHANE RETI (National) to the Minister of HealthQuestion No. 7—Health7. Dr SHANE RETI (National) to the Minister of Health: Does he stand by all of his statements and actions? Hon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister of Health): Yes. Dr Shane Reti: Does he stand by his refusal to describe the New Zealand health system as being in crisis despite recent tragic events involving emergency departments (EDs) and patients leaving without being seen because of the unacceptably long waiting times; if so why? Hon ANDREW LITTLE: I stand by the many statements I've made about this Government having inherited a health system that was desperately underfunded and under-resourced year after year by our predecessor Government and I stand by the investments that this Government has made in health increasing health funding by 45 percent in five years and setting up a $7 billion building programme to restore and replace many buildings compared to the roughly $1 billion under the previous Government. This is a health system that is under immense pressure at the moment and this is a Government that will continue to back it with investment and action. Dr Shane Reti: Does the Minister stand by his response to written questions which show that in EDs in June this year 540 people were forced to wait longer than 24 hours and 32 people had a wait time of 48 hours and does he regret not paying attention to the warning letter last year from all of the DHBs? Hon ANDREW LITTLE: I received no warning letter from DHBs last year as that member well knows. In relation to those figures I think what I can say is that our EDs are on the receiving end of record presentations this year—over 100000 in June; over 100000 again in August—and I stand behind and stand with the amazing health workforce that we have providing care to people even those who are waiting long periods of time to get that care and making sure that people get the care that they need. Dr Shane Reti: Did long ED waiting times contribute to the recent tragedy at Christchurch ED given reports that the person was triaged at level 3 on initial assessment which has a maximum waiting time for medical assessment and treatment of 30 minutes but they were not assessed for treatment until three hours later—well beyond the maximum 30 minutes? Hon ANDREW LITTLE: I'm aware of some of the facts around the events in Christchurch and I express my condolences to the family concerned. However it is a matter that is under investigation by Christchurch Hospital it's possibly a matter that will be referred to the coroner and I would prefer to wait until independent bodies establish the facts before drawing any conclusions. Dr Shane Reti: What does he say to ED specialist and well-respected spokesperson of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine Dr John Bonning who stated time for Health Minister Andrew Little to show leadership" and that he advised him to reintroduce hospital wait-time targets? Hon ANDREW LITTLE: As that member well knows we continue to have a measure for EDs. It is the short-stay ED measure of six hours and currently on a national basis our ED system is performing at about 76 percent—or at least for the month of June—and that has been deteriorating since about 2012 according to the research. But one thing we won't do is repeat what happened under the previous Government according to the 2019 research which showed that targets were used to manipulate and dodge good treatment for people. We have an ED system that is providing care for people and a system that having weathered the storms of COVID and one of the worst flu seasons ever is providing the care for people that they need."