Roy Heather: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
Roy Heather: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
[Volume:626;Page:21054] 
12.  
HEATHER ROY (ACT) 
 to the  
Minister of Health 
: Does she stand by the reported assurance she gave the Health Committee in 2002 that she was aiming at a deficit that was “close to zero” within 3 years and what is her explanation for the projection of district health board deficits of $100 million for 2005-06 and similar deficits for 2006-07? 
Hon ANNETTE KING (Minister of Health) 
: 
 Yes and this continues to be the Government’s aim. The Minister of Finance and I have not agreed to projected deficits of $100 million for 2005-06 and similar deficits for 2006-07. We have agreed to a sector deficit of $13.4 million for 2005-06. 
Heather Roy 
: Can the Minister understand why people are calling her the most incompetent Minister of Health we have ever had when she is using up an extra $3 billion of taxes to give New Zealanders the same health services they had 6 years ago when 180000 people are on waiting lists and when district health board deficits are blowing out to $100 million? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: No I have not heard those comments—although I have heard people in this building comment that the member who called the flu vaccine “dodgy” was recently seen having one. 
Dianne Yates 
: Has the Minister seen any recent media statements relating to the financial performance of the district health boards; if so what have they said? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: Yes I have seen two statements. Firstly the Ministry of Health released a statement on 24 May advising that the Ministry of Health continues to see evidence that district health boards are generally managing well their financial statements. Secondly Statistics New Zealand issued a statement on 25 May entitled “District Health Boards Report Operating Surplus”. That media release advises that the combined operating surplus of New Zealand’s 21 district health boards was $29.3 million for the March 2005 quarter. 
Dr Paul Hutchison 
: How do the Minister’s assurances of a deficit “close to zero” correlate with the stark reality of the Auckland District Health Board’s predicted deficit of $83 million; and given that huge deficit is it not the reality that for many of the 1405 patients who have been waiting for over 6 months having been given a commitment that they will have surgery that commitment will be broken—just as it was for the 2000 patients Labour culled from the Counties Manukau district? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: I direct the member to the chairman’s foreword in the Auckland District Health Board’s district annual plan for 2004-05 in which he stated that it needed to be admitted that the bulk of the construction programme entered into several years ago had not delivered the savings that had been promised. The savings have come nowhere near the $80 million of savings promised in 1999. But I am pleased to tell the House that the Auckland District Health Board even with that problem it inherited is working through its deficit. It is doing extremely well in terms of getting that deficit down and I am pleased with that. However it will not be helped under the first National Party health policy which was released last night in which in relation to what would happen to people who are waiting for an operation Dr Hutchison stated that the National Party would put them on a list. 
Judy Turner 
: Does the Minister agree that when many district health boards are bogged down with the massive costs of providing locums to cover shortages of at least 1440 general practitioners and 83 house surgeons nationwide the responsibility for their ongoing deficits actually sits squarely on her shoulders in light of the recent Health Workforce Advisory Committee report that states that after 6 years of her overseeing health workforce development there is a total lack of leadership and supporting infrastructure which should have been provided by the Ministry of Health? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: I am very pleased that there is leadership in health workforce planning now and that that was recognised in the Health Workforce Advisory Committee’s report because one of the things this Government has done is to increase the number of doctors in training by 40 more a year. We had seen no increase there since 1981. The member is right that we do face a problem in being able to provide health services in New Zealand because of a constant shortage of health workers. That is why so much emphasis is being put on increasing the number of people training as doctors nurses radiation therapists and dental therapists and in many other areas—because one cannot provide a health service without them. We are committed to making sure we get them. We cannot get them overnight. 
Heather Roy 
: What responsibility will the Minister take for the fact that at the end of March there were 61000 people on her booking-system waiting list for surgery and another 120000 on her other waiting list for a first specialist assessment when she described 96000 people being on waiting lists as “criminal” when she was in Opposition; and for these increasing numbers despite her unbelievable injections of billions of extra taxpayers’ dollars into health? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: I will take responsibility for the 40000 more a year medical and surgical discharges from our hospitals. I will take responsibility for the 27000 extra day-surgery procedures now being undertaken. I will take responsibility for the 100000 outpatient services we are receiving. All of those are extra to those in 1999. In addition those who have been booked will have an operation which is something they could not have been guaranteed when they sat on a list—the National Party’s new policy—and waited and waited. 
Heather Roy 
: How despite receiving an extra 40 percent of taxpayers’ dollars has the Minister managed to deliver just 1.3 percent more operations according to the  
Health and Independence Report  
of the Ministry of Health last year which is actually a cut of 3 percent when population growth is taken into account; and how on earth did she convince the Minister of Finance against Treasury’s contrary advice to give her another $1 billion in return for exactly the same health services? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: Firstly the Ministry of Health advised the member that not all procedures were reported in the  
Health and Independence Report 
. Secondly over half a billion dollars will be going to pay nurses’ salaries—and I can only assume that ACT does not want to pay nurses more. I say to the member for United Future that if one wants to have a nursing work force one has to pay nurses to keep them in New Zealand. Half a billion dollars goes to that. Also over $100 million has gone to taking away asset testing which was something that many people thought was unfair. We have also seen money going into primary health care to reduce the cost of visits to the doctor. All up I believe that that is good expenditure of money and people see good progress. 
Heather Roy 
: I seek the leave of the House to table an article from  
New Zealand 
Doctor 
 magazine in 2002 in which when tackled about the growing deficits of district health boards the Minister said: “Don’t worry; it will all be OK in about 3 years’ time”. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is. 
Judy Turner 
: I seek the leave of the House to table two articles from the  
Sunday Star-Times  
of 5 June about locum doctors’ costs. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table those articles. Is there any objection? There is. 
Dr Paul Hutchison 
: I seek the leave of the House to table the elective services performance indicator of May 2005. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? Yes there is objection. 
Hon Annette King 
: I seek leave to table a transcript of last night’s Television One news in which Dr Hutchison stated that the National Party’s policy was to put people on a list. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that transcript. Is there any objection? There is.