Ryall Tony: Debate on Crown Entities Public Organisations and State Enterprises — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeRyall Tony: Debate on Crown Entities Public Organisations and State Enterprises — In Committee[Sitting date: 17 June 2014. Volume:699;Page:18567. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon TONY RYALL (Minister of Health):I would like to thank that member Annette King for her reminiscences from last century. It is so nice to hear about what she was doing when she was Minister of Health last century. She spent all this money when there was more money than the Government knew what to do with and she never did a thing for Dunedin Hospital. All she and her cronies ever did for 9 years was mine the asset replace nothing do no maintenance and run the facilities down. It was so bad that in her last year as Minister of Health she was berating her own Labour appointees for running deficits of over $9 million for years on end. So when the money was raining out of the sky how much money did Annette King give to Dunedin Hospital to fix its buildings? Nothing. She just mined the asset and did nothing. But wait for it—the Budget went up and did it get money for buildings? No.But look at her record on operations for the people of the south. In her first year as Minister of Health 8800 people got elective surgery—8800. When she left office 8400 had got elective surgery so fewer people got elective surgery when she finished being Minister of Health than when she started being Minister of Health. When Annette King left as Minister of Health 8400 operations were done that year at Dunedin Hospital. This last year under review there were 10270 elective operations. She left with 8400; today it is 10270 in 2012-13. She had 6 years and fewer people got operations. I have had 6 years and we have increased the number massively from when she was Minister of Health. We have put an extra $124 million in there 82 more doctors 116 more nurses and an emergency department that Dunedin can be proud of because there are not people lying around the corridors unsafe for hours and hours and hours which I inherited.Hon Michael Woodhouse: What happened to the neonatal unit?Hon TONY RYALL: Oh the neonatal unit—shameful! The neonatal unit—shameful! This was for the most vulnerable babies born at Dunedin Hospital stuck into the smallest footprint you could possibly find. It was not a good service. In 9 years of a Labour Government nothing happened and we put the money in and our Prime Minister was there opening a state-of-the-art neonatal intensive care unit at Dunedin Hospital an investment by this Government when the money was tight. When the money was tight we found the money to put in a new neonatal intensive care unit.I have to say that I get fantastic feedback from Dunedin for the investment that our Government has made in that neonatal intensive care unit. I get amazing feedback from Dunedin on the massive improvements at the emergency department. People in Dunedin now know—Hon Annette King: Tell us about the colonoscopies.Hon TONY RYALL: I will tell you about the colonoscopies. Under Labour people who had a family history of colorectal cancer were denied the ability to go and have a surveillance colonoscopy. Labour stopped surveillance colonoscopy at Dunedin; National has started it again. Labour stopped surveillance colonoscopy; we have started it.Hon Annette King: Where?Hon TONY RYALL: We have started it at Dunedin. So that is the truth of that member’s failure.I am not going to harp on about last century because it is so different now from when that member came in in 1984. The Dunedin Hospital is a much better place. The services are improving. More patients are getting elective surgery. Remember that between 1999 and 2005 fewer patients got elective surgery—fewer patients got elective surgery—and now under our Government record numbers of patients are getting elective surgery at Dunedin Hospital the emergency department is working better the cancer services are fantastic and working faster and we are getting more preventive care for the children of the Otago-Southland region. Right across the board this district health board is delivering on service and this Government is giving it the money and the staff to improve care for people in Dunedin.