Mahuta Nanaia: General Debates 
Mahuta Nanaia: General Debates 
[Volume:617;Page:13334] 
NANAIA MAHUTA (Labour—Tainui) 
: 
 This week Parliament celebrated the 150th jubilee of its existence and this is a good time to reflect on the past and look forward to the future. A part of that future was touched on by the previous speaker who talked about the future face of this country—a future face that is forward-looking a future face that is a changing demographic and a future face that includes very young vibrant innovative and creative faces many of whom are Maori. My contribution to this debate today is to talk about some of the gains this Government has made in health care. The issue is about making health care affordable and accessible and that is what has been achieved in this term of Government. It is about making health gains and contributing to improving the health status of many of the people in our communities so that they can have a better quality of life. We are targeting need and are making a difference in health. This Government has initiated a primary health-care strategy to get the balance right. There are 68 primary health organisations currently in existence throughout New Zealand and that is significant. It shows that we are starting to really look at improving health in all our communities across all our populations. Why are we doing that? Because we want people to have a better quality of life and to contribute to society. More than 3 million New Zealanders many of whom are Maori are enrolled today in primary health organisations. They are enrolled in their communities where they can receive improved access to health care at a low cost. 
What have been some of the achievements in this term of Government? Last October 17-year-olds were added to the low-cost formula so the Government has improved their access to the health-care services. From 1 July this year all those aged over 65 years will receive low-cost health-care services and there will be a $3 prescription charge for our kaumatua. Those are significant gains because they are some of the bread and butter issues that people do not talk about very often but that really make a difference in everyday life. In rural health in the rural communities that a lot of our families live in and a lot of our families are returning to there have been some steady gains. Initiatives for new postgraduate diplomas for rural health nurses have allowed at least 40 rural nurses to study full-time over 2 years so they can go back into their communities serve those communities and help to improve health in those areas. We have extended the primary health-care nurse practitioner scholarship scheme. I think that is significant especially in a day and an age when it is hard to attract people into rural communities. Recruitment schemes for rural communities have made a significant difference because those of us who come from rural areas know how hard it is to attract people to come into a community long term and to be committed to the gains outcomes and benefits for that community. There has also been relief support to take the roster pressure off rural doctors and nurses and that too is significant. 
One of the things I want to talk about in my contribution to the debate is the mobile surgical services bus. I had the opportunity last week to visit that service while it was in Pukekohe. What is significant is that it is a public service that goes into rural communities like Gore Hawera Oamaru Pukekohe Taihape Te Puia Springs Wairoa and Warkworth—and that is to name just a few places. By going into those communities the service is able to relieve some of the pressure on the waiting lists of the district health boards in those areas. That is significant because the non-urgent cases that exist in those communities would not otherwise be seen if it were not for a service like that. A number of children from our families have been able to have a simple grommet operation which takes less than 10 minutes. Many kids Maori children who have had that operation immediately have an improved quality of life because they can hear better. Parents say that behavioural problems are immediately reduced and their children can participate in education and enjoy a full life. Those are some of the gains achieved by that service. It is significant that the number of operations has been vastly improved by that service. It should continue to grow.