Dunne Peter: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Dunne Peter: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
[Sitting date: 01 May 2012. Volume:679;Page:1797. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon PETER DUNNE (Associate Minister of Health) 
: 
 Can I thank those members who have contributed to the debate thus far. Can I knowledge particularly the chair of the Health Committee and thank him for the contribution that he makes and the advice that his committee has delivered both on the report on the financial review but also more generally. The fact is as the member rightly pointed out the last year has seen significant additional achievement in the area of health. During the time that this Government has been in office— 
Hon Maryan Street 
: Depends what you measure. Depends what you want to measure Peter. 
Hon PETER DUNNE 
: —$1.5 billion extra spending has been allocated to the health sector. I heard the member—and I will come to her point shortly—say many times by way of interjection “What about prevention?”. I agree with her. Prevention is important but so too is providing effective care for those who have moved beyond the stage of prevention. That is why we have seen 800 extra doctors employed in hospitals and over 2000 more nurses. That is why we are seeing new elective theatres being developed: to make sure that people can see real tangible progress and that some of the more fundamental and basic health concerns that arise can be dealt with effectively.  
There was an interchange during the debate about the tobacco policy. Dr Hutchison rightly pointed out that during the last year we have seen significant increases in the excise duty which we all know will have a significant and profound downward impact on the level of consumption. We are also seeing now about 90 percent of hospitalised patients being given help and advice to quit smoking. My colleague the Minister of Justice reminded me as she left the House after her estimate was being considered that during her time as the Minister of Corrections prisons were made smoke-free and around 6000 prison inmates who were previously smokers had to confront giving up that particular habit. So when the member says that nothing much has been done I would say in response that a considerable amount has been achieved.  
There are a number of other areas in health where great progress has been made. Over the last 3 years there has been a $180 million increase in funding for Pharmac. What that has seen is some of the more difficult and rare cases in the areas of some of the cancers diseases like Crohn’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease are now getting the medicines that are needed to be able to give people a better standard of living a greater opportunity for the future and also some real prospect.  
All of this is being achieved against a background of two important things. The demand for health services in the Western World is insatiable. No matter what the level of provision people rightly and understandably are going to demand more. As the march of technology increases that is going to increase as well. We are operating against that general backdrop but also in an environment of the greatest economic crisis to hit the world since the Great Depression where every dollar has to be managed with care where every dollar has to be really scrutinised in terms of the value it achieves for the spend involved. I think it is great that we now see against that backdrop over 90 percent of patients who report to emergency departments are discharged within 6 hours. It is great to see people who require radiation therapy are getting gold standard world-class treatment within a 4-week period. It is great to see the immunisation targets being increased and achieved. It is good to see that we are getting a reduction in a lot of the duplication and wasteful and inefficient expenditure in back-office services and much more concentration collaboration and working together to achieve positive outcomes.  
I am delighted—and again I come back to the prevention theme that the Labour member spoke of—that we are seeing the extension of the free care-hours for under-sixes and that we are seeing also the extension of the number of children able to get the B4 School check. That is early intervention of the highest order. We are seeing more Well Child home visits for at-risk mums. Again it is a positive benefit. There is always a long way to go in health. People demand better services all the time. But this Government and this administration has seen dramatic improvements in the status of the health of New Zealanders over the last 3 years. I acknowledge the role of the Minister in leading this and I acknowledge the contribution of his colleagues in helping him achieve it. New Zealanders’ health is in good hands. 
Report adopted.