Ardern Shane: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeArdern Shane: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 22 October 2013. Volume:694;Page:14057. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]9.SHANE ARDERN (National—Taranaki - King Country) to theMinister of Health: What progress is the Government making on using patient feedback to improve the quality of health care?Hon TONY RYALL (Minister of Health): Yesterday the Government announced that a new national patient survey will be rolled out to all New Zealand public hospitals from the middle of next year. Patient feedback is a vital indicator of how well health services are working for patients and their families and the new national patient survey will provide invaluable information for the district health boards about what they are doing well and what areas can improve. This will add to the widely reported health target information published quarterly by district health boards which have already played an important part in lifting health services for patients such as the big improvement seen in emergency department waiting times.Shane Ardern: What are the main areas of health services that the survey will be focused on?Hon TONY RYALL: The survey questions will be modelled on international best practice and will look at four key areas. These will involve firstly communication partnership coordination and finally physical and emotional needs. For example questions could include “When you had important questions to ask your doctor or nurse did you get answers that you could understand?” or “Did doctors or nurses talk in front of you as if you weren’t there?”. This information will help district health boards to make improvements to patient care on direct feedback. This initiative builds on our Open for Better Care campaign which challenges health professionals to be open to feedback in order to continually improve. The survey will be piloted in two district health boards later this year.Hon Annette King: What progress has he made on the feedback he received from the president of Grey Power Hastings and Districts who wrote to him 1 month ago to “plead” for an elderly man to get surgery at Hawke’s Bay Hospital and who concluded the letter by saying: “The health goals of National must change to stop discrimination against the elderly.”?Hon TONY RYALL: I do not have the response to that gentleman with me but I am sure we would want to point out to him that the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board has received an extra $73 million under this National Government and this Government is providing more elective surgery to more older New Zealanders than ever before.Kevin Hague: In the patient feedback that the Minister has described what steps specifically is he taking to include the views of those patients who do not get through the door to access the health services they need such as some of the poorest New Zealanders who are now missing out on accessing Very Low Cost Access primary care?Hon TONY RYALL: This survey will be specifically aimed at this stage at those patients who have attended public hospitals. But in respect of Very Low Cost Access there are more patients getting access to Very Low Cost Access practices than at anytime previously. We have put record amounts of funding into that. What is even more exciting is that this Government has funded free after-hours primary care for under-sixes—something that was not done even during the best of economic times.Kevin Hague: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. There was some interesting detail that the Minister gave but he did not address the fundamental question of those patients who are missing out on accessing the health services they need. He simply said that the survey was restricted to district health board consumers. He could have given an answer that related to patients who needed services provided by district health boards and did not get them.Mr SPEAKER: Yes I accept that the Minister could have but he chose to address the member’s question about a collection of feedback information from patients. You asked about what feedback information would be for patients who did not get into hospitals etc. He said that that is not the design of the system. He has addressed the question maybe not to the member’s satisfaction but it has certainly been addressed.Hon Annette King: I seek leave to table the letter from Grey Power Hastings and Districts. I received it as did the Minister. I have a plea for an elderly gentleman to receive surgery and as far as I know he has not received it yet.Mr SPEAKER: Order! The letter has been described adequately. Leave is sought to table this particular letter written by Grey Power. Is there any objection? There appears to be none. It can be tabled.Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.