Scott Lynda: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Scott Lynda: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:617;Page:12849] 
12.  
Dr LYNDA SCOTT (National—Kaikoura) 
 to the  
Minister of Health 
: What was the total cost in the first 4 months of this year of sending New Zealand cancer patients to Australia for radiation therapy? 
Hon RUTH DYSON (Acting Minister of Health) 
: 
 The Ministry of Health paid $616000 in additional funding from January to March 2004 for New Zealand cancer patients to go to Australia for radiation therapy. The figures for April 2004 are not yet available. 
Dr Lynda Scott 
: As it costs two to three times as much to send a patient and a support person to Australia to use its private health service as it would to treat that patient in New Zealand if we had a private radiation service why will this Government not get over its philosophical objection to private health-care develop a public-private partnership and allow twice as many patients to be treated for the same money? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: The member is well aware of the fact that we are committed to working in as many circumstances as appropriate with public-private partnerships. She has had many examples of that partnership demonstrated in this House. We cannot increase the capacity overnight; it is dependent on our ability to recruit staff. We have increased the annual number of radiation therapist graduates significantly and I am hoping that we will eventuate with a long-term solution—unlike the long-term problem that was left by that member’s Government for us to fix. [ 
Interruption 
] 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I just say to the member who asked the question that she interjected right throughout the answer and continued to do so after I had called the next member. I ask her to please show a bit of restraint. 
Steve Chadwick 
: Why is the Government having to send people to Australia for treatment? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: Because we are still experiencing the cancer treatment capacity legacy inherited from the previous health system. A key capacity issue is having a sufficient pool of radiation therapists in this country when there is a worldwide shortage of them. When we came to office in 1999 only 16 therapists were being trained each year. Under our Government 38 therapists started training last year. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Why is it that after 5 long years she is blaming somebody else; does she not regard it as a commentary on her ineffectiveness that whilst we are spending millions on sending our own people abroad for medical operations the Minister of Finance boasts a $7.4 billion surplus—how heartless and unconscionable is that? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: Even if the trainee radiation therapists were prepared to spend 24 hours a day 7 days a week studying rather than having any balance in their lives they still would not increase the complement needed to deliver the services that we want in order to ensure that patients have access to treatment in an appropriate time frame. 
Dr Lynda Scott 
: Can the Minister explain why despite all her rhetoric over the last 5 years about fixing this problem 77 patients have had to travel to Australia in the first 3 months of this year to access private health sector radiation therapy compared with 67 patients for all of 2003 which demonstrates that the problem is getting significantly worse not better under this Government? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: No it does not. What it demonstrates is that until the capacity comes on stream we are making use of all available facilities in New Zealand and Australia because we are concerned about making sure that patients are treated as quickly as possible.