Yang Jian: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeYang Jian: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 22 May 2014. Volume:699;Page:18249. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]4.Dr JIAN YANG (National) to theMinister of Health: What investment is the Government making in Budget 2014 to improve health outcomes for children?Hon TONY RYALL (Minister of Health): The Government is investing $90 million over 3 years from 1 July 2015 so primary school - aged children can go to the doctor for free at any time of the day or night and get their prescriptions for free as well. This builds on the success of the free general practitioners visits and prescriptions forchildren under 6 including free after-hours visits. Thanks to our prudent management of the health budget we can now extend this policy to all children under 13 and that is what careful financial management of the country’s finances can deliver for Kiwi families.Dr Jian Yang: What recent reports has he received on the new policy to provide free general practitioners visits and prescriptions for under-13s?Hon TONY RYALL: This policy has been widely welcomed in the health sector including by the Medical Association the Paediatric Society the College of General Practitioners and the New Zealander of the YearKaitāia general practitioner Lance O’Sullivan. I have also seen a report that somewhat begrudgingly described the extension of free general practitioners visits and prescriptions as an “attractive policy”. That was from the Leader of the Opposition David Cunliffe.Barbara Stewart: What will the Government do to improve the effectiveness of the rheumatic fever campaign given that a recent study has shown that fewer than one in three children prescribed antibiotics for rheumatic fever had taken the full course?Hon TONY RYALL: The Government is investing $20 million in expanding the rheumatic fever programme in this year’s Budget. One of the items that that money will be invested in is improving adherence and looking at new and innovative ways that we can encourage that.Dr Jian Yang: What other initiatives announced in the Budget will support the good health of New Zealand children?Hon TONY RYALL: It is more good news for Kiwi families in this year’s Budget. Very positive announcements—the $20 million for the Rheumatic Fever Prevention Programme extension which I talked about earlier; $6.3 million to provide bilateral cochlear implants for children; and $40 million for the new Healthy Families NZ anti-obesity programme to help encourage more New Zealanders to eat healthier and exercise more.Barbara Stewart: What is the Ministry of Health doing to ensure that general practitioners consistently prescribe adequate courses of antibiotics for rheumatic fever—for example 10 days rather than a lesser amount which is sometimes the case?Hon TONY RYALL: The Ministry of Health is working very actively with the general practice community in order to improve services for kids who present with sore throats. One of the things we are funding out of this $5 million a year—$20 million over 4 years—in this year’s Budget is the expansion of drop-in sore throat clinics. Most of these are based in general practice. They are free which is designed to encourage people to present and then get the various antibiotics and medications that might be required after that.Mr SPEAKER: Supplementary question the Hon Annette King.Hon Simon Bridges: A blast from the past.Hon Annette King: Sit down sonny.Mr SPEAKER: Order! That is the sort of disorder that is created by an interjection from my right-hand side and it will cease.Hon Annette King: In light of the New Zealand Medical Association saying that it needs more detail of the policy how many consultations per child per year on average did he base his announcement of $30 million a year to pay general practitioners for free doctors visits for children under 13 years of age?Hon TONY RYALL: As the member knows we will be entering negotiations with general practice on that so that information would be commercially sensitive at this stage. But what I have got to tell that member is that I do not know why she is so opposed to this policy because when I was meeting with general practitioners in her electorate at lunchtime they were very supportive.