Coleman Jonathan: Debate on Crown Entities Public Organisations  and State Enterprises — In Committee 
Coleman Jonathan: Debate on Crown Entities Public Organisations  and State Enterprises — In Committee 
[Volume:631;Page:3075] 
Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN (National—Northcote) 
: 
 It is a great shame that the Health Committee did not get the opportunity to hear from the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board and that we ended up producing a pro forma report on that district health board. I can tell members that if we had known what we know now about what has been going on in elective surgery in Hawke’s Bay we certainly would have wanted to see that district health board because what has been uncovered there has been just appalling. I can tell members that the National Party health team has really been putting the focus on health. The more focus we put on it the more uncomfortable truths are coming home to roost for this Government. 
Back in February the Minister of Health Pete Hodgson said when he was asked that the mark for anything in health will always be 5½ out of 10. Well if we were to ask the people in Hawke’s Bay now I would say that the Minister would definitely not get his 5½ out of 10 because 5½ is a pass mark and frankly in terms of elective surgery in Hawke’s Bay as around the rest of the country this Government is getting nowhere near a pass mark. 
If one district health board illustrates the sorry state of elective surgery under this Government it is the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board. We have heard that 1800 people just waiting to see a specialist for a first specialist appointment at that district health board have been dumped off the waiting list. Those people have not even seen a specialist. What was the precipitant for that? It was a threat as my colleague Tony Ryall has stated from the Ministry of Health that if the district health board did not come up to scratch and start to meet its target and if it did not comply it would be put under intensive monitoring. That district health board like a number of others received a letter that stated: “I anticipate you will move immediately to tackle the issues that underlie this position. As an indication of the seriousness attached to this matter I must regrettably formally advise you that failure to correct current non-compliance will lead to the ministry reviewing your status on the monitoring and intervention framework.” 
What did that mean? That meant that the management of Hawke’s Bay District Health Board had absolutely no option but to dump 1800 people off the waiting list to see a specialist. Then what happened? The Prime Minister blamed the managers—it was the managers’ fault! What happened next? The Minister of Health said it was an ethical matter—that the doctors general practitioners and surgeons of Hawke’s Bay were acting unethically in removing those people from the waiting list. 
Hon Member 
: What does that mean? 
Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN 
: Yes what does that mean? What does “acting unethically” mean in this context? Really only one person is to blame for this situation and that is the person who has to take the ultimate responsibility—the Minister. People should not blame the general practitioners surgeons and management of Hawke’s Bay District Health Board; they should blame the Minister of Health. Because the sad fact is that the buck stops with him. He has to stand up and take accountability. We in the Health Committee have heard week after week from district health board official after district health board official admitting under questioning that under this Government people have to be sicker than ever to get an operation. It is harder than ever to get an operation now. People cannot just get any old quality-of-life condition fixed—people cannot get their hernias or their varicose veins fixed. A person has to be within sight of the pearly gates before he or she has a real chance of getting on an operating table. That is disgraceful. 
The figures in Hawke’s Bay however—those 1800 people—are just the tip of the iceberg. When we started asking a few other questions we found out that over 8000 patients around the country were in exactly the same situation. The funny thing is that every time we ask how many people have been sent back to their general practitioners without getting a first specialist opinion the number goes up. We thought the number was 8000 until we asked questions in Parliament last week. The Associate Minister said they thought it could be 10000 but that actually it might be as high as 14000. So I would like Minister Hodgson to take a call today to give us the revised figure because I am certain it will be higher. Every time we ask the question the number goes up. In the meantime things are even worse. Another 8100 New Zealanders have been to their hospital have seen their surgeon and have been told they will be having an operation. Then suddenly they are told they are not having the operation any more. That figure gets worse too. Last month we found that 800 more people were in that category—over 10 percent more. So now nearly 9000 people are being told they will have an operation and then are being taken off the list.