Coleman Jonathan: Debate on Crown Entities Public Organisations and State Enterprises — In Committee 
Coleman Jonathan: Debate on Crown Entities Public Organisations and State Enterprises — In Committee 
[Volume:647;Page:15973] 
Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN (National—Northcote) 
: 
 It is very pleasing to be following on from that rather patronising lecture from the Minister of Health telling us all is actually well in health in New Zealand. It is rather apt that we are now going to be debating the Waitemata District Health Board because of course the poor people of New Lynn whom the Minister represents actually have to go to that health board to get their care. Of course the Minister himself does not go there because he chooses to domicile himself in the rather more grandiose area of Herne Bay. So he really does not have to suffer the privations that his own constituents suffer when they have to go to Waitakere Hospital or North Shore Hospital for their own health care. 
I am really looking forward to another dose of condescension and maybe a little more patronising patter from the Minister as he gets up and tells us about the wonderful things he has done for the people of west Auckland for the people north of the bridge in terms of health care. Because when we are looking at what has gone wrong with this Government in terms of its performance in health we do not have to look any further than the Waitemata District Health Board. It is amazing; the Waitemata District Health Board has the worst patient satisfaction level of any district health board in New Zealand—the worst—yet that hospital should be performing as one of the best. In terms of triage times it is right down at the bottom. It is in the bottom quartile of district health boards on every single measure. There are problems right through that district health board and I can tell members what the problems are. They come down to a failure of planning and a failure of management by this Government and this Minister is responsible. 
Do members know all that this Government has actually done at the Waitemata District Health Board? Do members know what the response to the problem has been? The response to the problem has been for Helen Clark to turn up on the lawn of North Shore Hospital and erect a great sculpture on the front lawn that is meant to represent the giving of light in places where despair reigns supreme—rather like the Labour Party caucus room. That is the only contribution this Government has come up with constructively to try to solve the problems of the Waitemata District Health Board. I can tell members that I am being inundated in my electorate office in Northcote with complaint after complaint about what goes on at that hospital. If this Minister says that we get only an occasional complaint about the health service in New Zealand I tell members that I think he is spending too long in restaurants in Herne Bay. He needs to get out to New Lynn and actually talk to some of those constituents. 
If the Minister goes out and talks to those blue collar decent New Zealanders whom he is meant to represent rather than hang around on Jervois Road they will tell him what the reality is and I will give him a taste of this. This is what I got just recently from one of my constituents. He tells me about Waitemata District Health Board: “Some weeks ago I was admitted through the A & E department and I thought then that this was a shambles with all the corridors and aisles full of beds. I saw elderly men and women middle-aged and young children lying there without any dignity respect or privacy. I saw these patients having their observations taken and questions asked of them regarding their illnesses and injuries sometimes with absolutely no privacy. They were bodily examined bloods taken samples taken etc. The place was filthy.” 
For this Minister to get up and give us a lecture about the state of health care in New Zealand is beyond a joke. I would invite him to come out to North Shore Hospital and see what it is really like. In fact I walked into the accident and emergency department the other day with the Hon Tony Ryall. We went up to the reception desk and do members know what was sitting there between ourselves and the receptionist at the counter? 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: A box of cigars. 
Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN 
: No it was a patient. That guy from Waimakariri wants to joke. I tell members that if that member were 6 inches taller he would have a totally different personality and approach in Parliament. There is no question about it. He should be taking this a lot more seriously than he is because this is a serious issue. 
Labour has failed in health. Labour members have failed abjectly and it will cost them. They will get kicked at the polls on this. If they think they are performing and if they think they have done a good job in health in New Zealand when elderly former Labour voters are lying on trolleys in the corridor at North Shore Hospital well they are in la-la land. This Minister gets up and talks about the investment in health about the money that the Government has put into it. If members opposite come out of their ivory towers and ask any person in the street they will find that people do not think this health system is any better than when Labour took over 9 years ago. The spending has gone from $6 billion to $12 billion and less elective surgery is actually being done. Is that not incredible? Less elective surgery is being done and there are fewer operations. There is no question that Labour has failed in health and it will pay the price at the ballot box.