Stewart Barbara: Financial Review Debate — Procedure In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee 
Stewart Barbara: Financial Review Debate — Procedure In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee 
[Volume:616;Page:11875] 
BARBARA STEWART (NZ First) 
: 
 Our health system is in a state of crisis. We could say that it is ailing because despite an increase in funding more funding is required for patient care. Health is a critical investment in the people of New Zealand and it is not really a balance sheet item. New Zealand First and I would say every New Zealander wants a properly funded and resourced health system. We need to move towards matching France’s expenditure of 10 percent of gross domestic product on the health of its citizens if we want to have a First World health system and this is achievable. It is essential to provide people with certainty about their health care and to ensure timely access to quality services. 
The health system in New Zealand has reached a crisis point with waiting lists longer than ever and an increasing number of cancer patients being referred overseas for treatment rather than being treated in New Zealand. We have patients’ qualifications being tested by a pain-ranking system and we have general practitioners fleeing for a variety of reasons. 
In 1999 the Labour Government promised voters to cut waiting lists yet every day we hear about patients who are waiting years for operations or are waiting months for a specialist appointment. Just recently it was reported that patients waiting for gallstone surgery had to suffer at least four severe attacks of pain and vomiting before they would be considered for surgery. This new type of pain-ranking system is outrageous and obviously a last resort attempt by the health boards with inadequate resources to cope with the number of patients coming through. The bottom line is that patients need treatment not the run-around. 
As well as this we have recent reports stating that general practitioners are unhappy with their working conditions and that fewer than 30 percent think they will be practising in the next 4 years. This follows an increasing number of health professionals—nurses and pharmacists—who are now leaving our shores. It is absolutely appalling. Our patients need treatment; they do not need the run-around. The district health board moves to reduce the waiting lists for all patients by referring them back to their general practitioners are an insult to the intelligence of New Zealanders who are increasingly being subjected to such tricks. Waiting lists need to be shortened as a result of patients being given operations and treatment rather than just being sent back to their general practitioners. 
We do know that health boards are attempting to assist general practitioners by having personnel visit to discuss their patients. But we really must question as to whether it is more expensive to cull patients from the waiting lists in this way rather than treat the original problem. We were always taught that a stitch in time saves nine and perhaps that is exactly the case with the health system. The bottom line is that we need a clinical rather than a clerical removal of patients from the waiting lists. 
One of the areas that I also want to touch on is dental care for adolescents. It was very evident that one of the key concerns expressed by adolescents at the Children’s Rights Symposium in Wellington recently and I know it will be a matter of concern to the Minister of Health too was that many adolescents are no longer receiving any free dental care despite the fact that it is available to teenagers. Parents who can afford to pay for dental care for their children do so but an increasing number of teenagers miss out totally. 
Sitting suspended from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. 
BARBARA STEWART 
: New Zealanders are concerned about their health care. They want certainty and they want timely access to all services.