Ryall Tony: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Ryall Tony: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:637;Page:7963] 
8.  
Hon TONY RYALL (National—Bay of Plenty) 
 to the  
Minister of Health 
: What are the current radiotherapy waiting times in the six regional cancer centres for category C which includes patients diagnosed with breast and prostate cancer? 
Hon PETE HODGSON (Minister of Health) 
: 
 The waiting time for category C patients is generally within 8 weeks though some patients are waiting longer. Where that is the case the centres are taking action to reduce the waiting times. I think it occurs mainly in the Auckland and MidCentral district health boards at this time. More urgent patients are also getting their treatment within the clinically appropriate time frame. 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: Does the Minister recall the Prime Minister’s speech to the Labour Party asking: “Why are cancer patients waiting so long for radiotherapy that their cancer is dangerously progressing? I have a friend who waited for 3 months and still does not know for sure whether that wait will have proved fatal.”; and in light of information from the Auckland District Health Board today and from other district health boards that shows that numerous cancer patients are waiting in excess of 3 months to begin their radiation treatment why are those patients waiting well in excess of the 4 weeks that the Prime Minister’s Government says is the best time in which to start radiotherapy treatment? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: The member will be well aware that the 4-week guideline sits on the ministry’s website but the ministry—and indeed the oncology community—has long held the view that waits of up to 12 weeks for category C patients have little or no effect on the cancer outcomes. Indeed in some cases they are suggested to be of value to patients because patients need to prepare for the radiotherapy. The long and the short of it is that this Government has increased the number of radiotherapists by more than 30 percent and has increased the number of radiotherapists in training by more than 100 percent. 
Maryan 
 Street 
: Has the Minister seen the report in today’s  
New Zealand Herald  
that the Auckland District Health Board advises a waiting time of 14 to 16 weeks for category C patients and that a letter to this effect was made available to the  
New Zealand Herald  
as proof? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: Yes I have seen the report in the  
New Zealand Herald 
 which says that a letter was made available to the  
New Zealand Herald  
by Mr Ryall. Mr Ryall assured the  
New Zealand Herald  
that the letter was current. It is not. The letter is out of date. The current letter advises that the waiting time is not 14 to 16 weeks but 8 to 12 weeks. Importantly the letter handed to the  
New Zealand Herald  
had no date on it. Again Mr Ryall has sought to maximise mayhem and again he has been caught. 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: If the Minister thinks it is so good for patients to wait 12 weeks for treatment why then have 89 women from Auckland and 55 women from the MidCentral region been sent to Australia for treatment to avoid that 12-week waiting period which he says is so good for women with breast cancer? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: I am not saying it is good. I am saying that— 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: You did say it was good. 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: I wonder whether I could be heard. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Yes order please. 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: I did not say it was good. I said that a very substantial meta-analysis said that it did little harm. Sometimes there are cases where patients set out to wait perhaps because they need to have chemotherapy ahead of their radiotherapy or for whatever reason. But the long and the short of it is that I am proud that our district health boards are so keen to make sure they can deliver radiotherapy to our citizens in a timely manner that they will expend extra time and effort on sending some patients to Australia if that is what those patients want. 
Dr Jackie Blue 
: Is the Minister aware that under Labour despite the population increasing by 8 percent the number of functioning linear accelerators in New Zealand has increased by only one and does the Minister consider that this is a factor in cancer patients waiting longer and longer for care? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: The member needs to be careful. She needs to reflect on how many extra patients have received radiotherapy. What she might have inadvertently just done is point to an increase in productivity in the New Zealand health system. 
Dr Jackie Blue 
: Does the Minister not realise that doubling the number of radiation therapist technicians being trained and calling this a solution is meaningless when the graduates cannot find a job in New Zealand? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: It is far better for this country to have a mild excess of radiotherapists than an extreme shortage. Under National we did; under National there was a substantial shortage of radiotherapists and that is why at the beginning of the term of this Government there were waiting times that were really excessive. That situation has now been brought under control because my predecessor Annette King made sure that we had people trained up. 
Dr Jackie Blue 
: Is the Minister aware that growth projections for future radiotherapy capacity are based on data that is up to 13 years out of date and does he not think that this is evidence of a Government that has been hopelessly negligent in its planning for an ageing population and an increasing cancer burden? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: Now it seems that the member wants still more linear accelerators. I am sorry to advise the member that that is what we think too and there will be a gradual increase in linear accelerators. What is more there will be a further increase in the productivity of their use. In fact only on Monday linear accelerator use in Auckland was extended by a further shift. 
Dr Jackie Blue 
: I seek leave of the House to table a document that shows that in the past 7 years despite the population increasing by 8 percent the number of functioning linear accelerators has increased by a total of only one. 
Document by leave laid on the Table of the House. 
Dr Jackie Blue 
: I seek leave of the House to table a document that shows that the growth projections for radiotherapy planning are based on data that is up to 13 years out of date. 
Document by leave laid on the Table of the House. 
Hon Annette King 
: Can the Minister confirm that when Labour became the Government the number of radiotherapists being trained per year—that is under the previous National Government—was 16 and that that had meant that National had had to send patients to Australia to receive cancer treatment; and that this Government has taken cancer treatment seriously and has invested money in training and services to improve those services? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: I can confirm that that is precisely the case as it is in many other areas of health. Do not forget that under the previous Government not only was radiotherapy training trimmed right back but dental therapy training was cancelled altogether! 
I seek leave to table a sample letter that goes out to all Auckland District Health Board radiotherapy patients today—the current letter—which states that the average waiting time is approximately 8 to 12 weeks not 14 to 16 weeks. 
Document by leave laid on the Table of the House. 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: I seek leave to table a schedule that shows the record numbers of patients sent to Australia under this Labour Government compared with the numbers sent in any other time in history in New Zealand. 
Document not tabled. 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: I seek leave to table for the benefit of members the Prime Minister’s speech where she asked why cancer patients are waiting so long for radiotherapy including her friend who had had to wait 3 months which is now quite common. 
Document not tabled.