Tremain Chris: Estimates Debate — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeTremain Chris: Estimates Debate — In Committee[Sitting date: 04 August 2011. Volume:674;Page:20372. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]CHRIS TREMAIN (National—Napier): It is great to be able to take a call in the estimates debate on Vote Health. I want to focus on some of the achievements the Minister of Health Tony Ryall and his team have made in this area. Health is one of the few Budget portfolio areas across all the portfolios where we have actually been able to increase funding. Constituents will be pleased to know that health alone has received $1.5 billion worth of additional funding over a 3-year period which is absolutely fantastic.The recessionary environment in which National became the Government was an extremely difficult environment to come into. Many people would have said that the Government needed to cut its cloth to fit the revenue that was coming in the door. Well we took a very practical approach to this and there were some key areas within the Government spend—health being one of those and education being another of those key areas—where we continue to spend at and beyond the level we were previously spending. We are investing in the health of our community and in our education. There is nothing surer. It has paid huge dividends particularly with the six key areas of focus that Tony Ryall has brought in with the new national standards in health. They are absolutely fantastic. In terms of cancer treatment the Minister has focused each of the district health boards on lifting the bar in terms of cancer treatment. Focusing on that has made a huge difference.Take immunisation. I know that in my own province of Hawke’s Bay the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board and its immunisation team have lifted the level of child immunisation to levels that we would not have anticipated 2 or 3 years ago. As a team through the district health nurses they have done a fantastic job. It is interesting that the Labour Opposition would take time to criticise district health nurses and the work that they do in our communities to immunise young babies and to improve the health and welfare of groups in poverty. I think that work is fantastic but Labour is concerned about it and that is a worry.There have been other standards we have focused on such as elective surgery. We have lifted the level of elective surgery despite the difficult times. That has been absolutely fantastic. We have seen accident and emergency waiting times improve throughout district health boards around the country. Cardiovascular services have also improved. A wonderful initiative from the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board has been a nurse-led initiative to allow prescribing of diabetes medicines which is a wonderful enabler that the Minister of Health Tony Ryall has implemented in this term of Government. It is absolutely fantastic. Smoking cessation is another focus we have in this Government which is absolutely marvellous.One of the things I want to focus on in the estimates debate is the more than $500 million being invested in hospital capital projects. I was particularly fortunate to be at the Napier Health Centre on Wellesley Road on Monday where as part of that $500million capital investment we were able to open a new digital X-ray facility. Absolutely sensational.Sue Moroney: It was Labour who put that money in.CHRIS TREMAIN: The project started just 3 months ago. I am not sure how that could have been started under the Labour Government if it was started 3 months ago and is being implemented now.Let us talk about the Napier Health Centre which was going to close under Labour. That is what was going to happen under Labour. It was getting to the end of its 10-year lease and the previous Government was going to close that centre.Sue Moroney: What rubbish!CHRIS TREMAIN: Well if that is rubbish then what was the protest that I was a part of in the last term of Government? It was to make sure that that facility stayed open for the citizens of Napier and it has. What is more important is that we have signed a 10-year lease now—in this term of Government; not under a Labour Government—that will ensure the longevity of that service for Napier residents. With this new digital radiology facility I acknowledge Wietske Cloo Andrew Lesperance and Warrick Frater who have brought about all these new services and Mandy Robinson who will head up the new digital service in Hawke’s Bay. This is fantastic.In particular I acknowledge the board of the district health board led by Kevin Atkinson. He has done an amazing job of ensuring that that district health board will be one of the more profitable ones going forward or that at least it will break even and reach profitability which will be the first time we have seen that in many many years. That is absolutely fantastic. Kevin has done an outstanding job.