Collins Judith: Health (National Cervical Screening Programme) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Collins Judith: Health (National Cervical Screening Programme) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:615;Page:11266] 
JUDITH COLLINS (National—Clevedon) 
: 
 I rise to speak to the Health (National Cervical Screening Programme) Amendment Bill and in particular to Part 1. The commencement date is 1 July 2004 now rather than 2003 and I will hopefully have a little latitude to talk about this. 
I note the comments of Sue Kedgley my former colleague from the Health Committee who is concerned very much about the privacy issues. If there is one thing I am somewhat concerned about it is privacy issues and confidentiality. I was very concerned when I first looked at this bill. I was extremely concerned that we might need to put the commencement date out further because I was worried about the implications. 
Certainly it was very concerning to me that anybody I thought could have a look at the records and get access to them. But I was very much assured and reassured really not only by the Minister and the officials but by looking at the amendments to see that in fact the only people who will have access to women’s medical records in relation to this bill—and I note that the commencement date is 1 July 2004—are in fact the people who are evaluating or in other words auditing the process. That is why I felt that it was very important that the bill be passed this year rather than next year. 
One of the concerns about the auditing is that lawyers’ records—and having been a lawyer for so long I am very much aware of this—are regularly audited by auditors. They look through files and check that things are where they are supposed to be. Of course that is the way it should be yet lawyers never get authorities for that and the reality is that that is all the auditors look at—to make sure that things are as they should be. This particular bill is about the auditing. It is a terrible crock—in fact it is a shocking thing to do to women—to have cervical-screening programmes that do not have any auditing or evaluation. It is nonsense. It is worse than nothing because it gives people a feeling of well-being— 
Hon Member 
: False! 
JUDITH COLLINS 
: It gives them a false feeling of well-being and that is something we should not allow. That is what led to the Gisborne cervical cancer inquiry—the McGoogan inquiry. We do not want to see that this year next year or any other year. That is why I am particularly pleased to see this legislation being passed this year. 
The reality is that women will still be able to get Pap smears done even if they are not part of the screening programme. The people that Ms Kedgley mentioned in her speech will not be chopped out of having their cervical tests done. They will be able to have them done usually by their general practitioners or whoever else does the tests for them and they will still get the results but they will not get the letter from the national cervical-screening register telling them when their call-up time is. In fact their general practitioners will be doing that. It is not as though they will suddenly be bereft of any medical assistance. They can choose to be in charge with their doctor of their own records and their own call-ups. 
I do not think that some of Ms Kedgley’s concerns will necessarily come out this year or next year as being quite so major. But certainly in the National Party we will be very much concerned if it looks as though people are just opting out altogether and not taking part in the programme to discuss with the other parties whether there should be an amendment to the legislation. I can see the Minister in the chair Annette King nodding away because none of us wants to see an epidemic of the proportions that there has been in this country. That is why we are particularly keen to see the commencement date be 1 July 2004 and not later.