Turner Judy: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Turner Judy: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:631;Page:2897] 
1. JUDY TURNER (Deputy Leader—United Future) 
 to the  
Minister of Health 
: Why is the Government building more public hospitals when there is underutilised capacity in private hospitals? 
Hon PETE HODGSON (Minister of Health) 
: 
 Although the use of the private sector to deliver publicly funded surgical and medical services is increasing year by year the truth is that the total level of health provision under this Government is increasing even faster. That is why this Government has undertaken the largest hospital-building programme in living memory. 
Judy Turner 
: Given the long lead times involved how will building new hospitals solve the current waiting list crisis when there are empty beds in private hospitals? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: That there are empty hospital beds in the private sector might reflect a lack of efficiency in the private sector and therefore it might not be the case that there are as many empty beds as people might think. However it is worth noting that in the annual report of the Ministry of Health for 2004-05 there is very clear evidence that the amount of medical and surgical work that is publicly funded but is done in private hospitals not only is increasing but is many times higher than was ever the case under a National Government. 
Ann Hartley 
: What reports has he received on keeping public hospital services free for all New Zealanders? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: I have seen three. One is a firm commitment to preserve free public hospital services for all New Zealanders. A second would strip all non-emergency care out of public hospitals. The third which is unusually equivocal—or perhaps I should say “usually equivocal”—is that in answer to a direct question the respondent could neither confirm nor deny whether he supported charging patients who use public hospitals. We can guess that the first is from the Labour Party the second is from the ACT party and the third is from Don Brash who is for the moment the leader of the National Party. 
Barbara Stewart 
: How much underutilised capacity is there in public hospitals as a result of workforce shortages? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: Generally rather little although one can end up with workforce shortages causing a shortage in a particular discipline within a hospital. Most public hospitals in New Zealand are run at a high or very high capacity by international standards. It is worth also saying that the most recent hospital to be opened which was last Thursday by the Prime Minister has been purpose-built so as to imbed so to speak private sector beds within the same building to allow staff to move freely between the two sectors thus improving the efficiency of both. 
Judy Turner 
: What steps is the Government taking to pursue actively the provision in the confidence and supply agreement with United Future that “appropriate private hospital capacity will be used to reduce waiting lists where this is feasible.”? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: Most obviously by requiring hospitals progressively to increase their service provision in very many medical and surgical areas. I would say that the very substantial increase in private sector provision of publicly funded services that we have seen in recent years is likely to continue not least because of the agreement we have with United Future. First and foremost there is a direct benefit to publicly funded patients from this activity. 
Hon Tony Ryall 
: If there is direct benefit to patients from asking private hospitals to do operations when the public hospitals do not have the capacity to do them why do we not do a lot more of that? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: I have just pointed out to the House that not only do we do more of it but we do many times more than was ever done under the previous National Government. Further I draw the member’s attention to the last paragraph of an article in today’s  
New Zealand Herald  
by an associate professor in health economics who says: “It is important we have this debate about how the public and private sectors can work together more effectively. But the debate must be informed by the best evidence that is available rather than by ideological calls for change.”