Barry Maggie: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Barry Maggie: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Sitting date: 06 December 2012. Volume:686;Page:7272. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
6. 
MAGGIE BARRY (National—North Shore) 
 to the  
Minister of Health 
: What announcements has the Government recently made on new facilities in the public health service? 
Hon TONY RYALL (Minister of Health) 
: 
 This week the Government announced that the New Zealand Blood Service in partnership with Ngai Tahu Property is building a new blood donor and laboratory centre in Christchurch. The new centre is planned to open its doors in just over 2 years’ time and will be a purpose-designed building that will house a donor centre manufacturing and testing laboratories and specialised warehousing and support offices. In 2011-12 the New Zealand Blood Service collected 181000 blood donations from 126000 volunteer blood donors—just over 3 percent of the population. The new centre is important for the long-term future of the New Zealand Blood Service to ensure the ongoing blood supply to New Zealand public health services. 
Maggie Barry 
: What can the Minister tell us about a new multimillion-dollar mental health unit at North Shore Hospital? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: The Government has approved a new $25 million inpatient mental health unit— 
Hon Member 
: How much? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: —$25 million—at North Shore Hospital. It will replace the current Taharoto unit which is an old maternity hospital and is no longer fit for purpose. The new unit will not only be larger with seven extra beds but doctors and nurses working in the unit will be involved in the design to ensure it is more user-friendly for patients and in particular families. I would like to thank the member for her representation on behalf of a number of families who have been concerned about the standard of the facilities. The building is expected to begin by the middle of next year and to take around 18 months to complete. 
Hon Maryan Street 
: Does the Minister approve of the suggested model for the new elective surgical centre at North Shore Hospital which includes financial incentives for surgeons of payments of up to $10000 per day and excludes training options for younger doctors in training? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: I certainly support the elective surgery centre that is being built at North Shore Hospital at a cost of some tens of millions of dollars. I am not sure the member correctly characterises the features of that unit. Certainly those are the features that have been described by the senior doctors union. I am right behind the elective surgery centre because it will contribute to the more elective operations that New Zealanders want. We are now delivering 30 percent more elective surgery than when we came to office. 
Hon Maryan Street 
: Does he see it as the way of new facilities in the public health service that public facilities should be set up to funnel post-operative care to the private clinics of surgeons who work in the public facilities as appears to be the intention of the new North Shore elective surgical centre? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: I am absolutely certain that the elective surgery centre is going to be a stunning example of innovation and new ideas in health. Quite clearly we do need to look at more productive ways of getting services for patients using our dollars. I welcome Dr Lester Levy and the clinicians at North Shore Hospital who have developed this elective surgery centre and the effort they are making to get the best value for our taxpayers’ dollars. I want more hips knees and cataracts done for the people of Auckland and this is part of that.