Blue Jackie: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
Blue Jackie: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
[Volume:656;Page:5749] 
1. Dr JACKIE BLUE (National) 
 to the  
Minister of Health 
: What reports has he received on improvements to elective surgery? 
Hon TONY RYALL (Minister of Health) 
: 
 I have seen a number of reports that show that in the 8 years between 2000-01 and 2007-08 the number of people getting elective surgery rose an average of 1432 a year or just 10021 over those 8 years. This increase was well behind population growth. 
Dr Jackie Blue 
: What reports has the Minister seen of the results for the 2008-09 year just ended? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: I have just received the preliminary results for 2008-09. They show that the number of people getting elective surgery in 2008-09 was 130216 patients a record increase of 12265 patients. This is the largest increase in the history of the public health system and it is higher in 1 year than it was under 8 years of the previous Labour Government with its having doubled the budget. 
Hon Ruth Dyson 
: How can New Zealanders who are waiting for complex surgery have any faith in him when he has directed district health boards to improve discharge numbers which can be achieved by doing lots of minor surgery rather than to improve case-weighted numbers which give a true picture of the amount and type of surgery being carried out? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: Well what the member will find out of course is that more New Zealanders than ever before are getting elective surgery. It was her party’s history in Government that it doubled the budget and in 8 years it could not achieve what has happened in the last 12 months. 
Hon Ruth Dyson 
: Why did he fail to answer my written question asking about discharges and case-weighted procedures due on 12 August until 1.57 today; was it because it shows that he is manipulating the figures or did he forget about the question in the same way that yesterday he forgot about the four draft Horn reports he had received and about the dinner that he had had with Murray Horn and his colleagues to discuss the recommendations—which was it? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: I think it is clear from that question that the member does not appreciate the fact that what this Government is trying to do is to tidy up the mess that we inherited from her and her colleagues whereby despite a doubling of the health budget fewer New Zealanders got elective surgery. 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The Hon Ruth Dyson’s question was about the answer she had received to a question about the Minister’s portfolio. He gave a political attack in response and went no way towards responding to the question she had put. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I sympathise with the honourable member’s point of order in that the answer perhaps was not quite what the member would have wanted but then one has to accept that the question was also very long and some quite subjective stuff was inserted into it. It was a very long question with assertions and all sorts of things in it so I fear that I cannot assist the honourable member with a question like that. 
Dr Jackie Blue 
: How does this increase of over 12000 compare with the Government’s goals for increasing elective surgery? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: When the National Government came into power we made it clear that we had a goal of lifting the number of people getting elective surgery by an average of 4000 a year which was nearly treble the growth rate that there had been under the previous Labour Government in order to match population growth. In short the Government has delivered the total increase it had aimed for over those 3 years over the last period. 
Dr Jackie Blue 
: What were the increases in particular elective surgical specialties? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: The preliminary information shows that there were increases in nearly all elective surgical specialties including orthopaedics ear nose and throat surgery plastic surgery and ophthalmology. But the largest increase was in general surgery which had actually decreased between 2000-01 and 2007-08 under Labour. In the year just completed the number of people getting general surgery rose to over 29000 which is an increase of around 11 percent. 
Hon Ruth Dyson 
: I seek leave to table the email trail between the Minister’s office and my office requesting an answer on time to the overdue question that I alluded to in my supplementary questions. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is no objection. 
Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.