Stewart Barbara: Health Practitioners (Replacement of Statutory References to Medical Practitioners) Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeStewart Barbara: Health Practitioners (Replacement of Statutory References to Medical Practitioners) Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 23 July 2015. Volume:707;Page:5322. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]BARBARA STEWART (NZ First): I was busy watching the time to see whether or not I would manage to get a turn before 6 o’clock because this is one of the bills that I had hoped would go to the Health Committee next week so that we could start work immediately on it. It is my pleasure to support this bill. New Zealand First definitely supports this bill. This bill actually makes common-sense changes to a whole range of Acts that are currently in force. The current legislation is very narrow. It sets out a whole range of functions that can be carried out only by medical practitioners in order to protect New Zealand’s health and safety. It is really great to hear from the Hon Annette King that nurses are in favour of these changes.As the bill points out in the explanatory note the training of health professionals has changed drastically over time. New technologies and treatments have been developed and the workforce has adapted and diversified. Many groups are now capable of performing the tasks that were previously solely the domain of medical practitioners. Extending the scope of tasks that are able to be completed by other health practitioners will hopefully free up our medical practitioners so that there are more doctors appointments available treatment can be faster treatment can be more timely and treatment can be at a place of the patient’s choosing to a far greater extent than what it actually is today.In New Zealand First we believe that this bill puts into practice the process of respecting what our nurses actually do in the roles that they have. The skills and the training that they have and the work that they do under extreme pressure really make it essential that their competency is recognised in the terms of this bill. Of course as has been previously mentioned this is a change that may increase the number of nurse practitioners which is a very positive thing. We will be supporting the bill. We will be looking forward to the nurses coming and submitting on this particular bill.We know that the definition of practitioners under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act was quite narrow. It is appropriate for some professions. We know that there are 22 professions in New Zealand that are regulated by the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act. We assume that the public make assumptions as to what professions are actually covered by the definition. We know it covers nurses. Nurses are the most prominent health practitioners in need of having their roles extended and this is something that we support. It also covers psychologists. This is quite appropriate because we know that psychologists should be available to examine young people particularly if it is deemed appropriate by the courts. It must cover pharmacists. We know that they have got an increasing role in diagnosing and prescribing in the community and many people find it far more useful and convenient to actually go to their local pharmacy. They are right there on the spot.But one of the unregulated professions that we would like to see included in the bill is the paramedics. Paramedics frequently work unsupervised and they often make lifesaving or life-changing decisions right on the spot at the side of the road in terrible circumstances. The skills needed by these paramedics are highly advanced and the interventions they make can save a life. Yet because they are not recognised under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act there are no universal standards for the skill sets or the capabilities that define what a paramedic should be able to do or what they cannot do. Because of this there is a loophole in the law that we have been seeing. Anybody can call themselves a paramedic anybody can set up their own ambulance service and no one would be any the wiser.If an ambulance comes we assume that these people are competent. We know that the current existing ambulance services train their paramedics to a high standard and they deliver a very high standard of care to the about half a million patient call outs that they attend on an annual basis. But unfortunately paramedics would not be extended the same respect or acknowledgment of their skills as those professions that are regulated. We believe that this is something that we really need to have a look at even during the select committee process.We know that paramedics take their patient to a hospital. When they get to the hospital the doctors or nurses take notice of their diagnosis and treat that patient accordingly. We think that it would be really appropriate to have paramedics included somehow in this particular legislation. It is something that I will be following up when it comes to the select committee. We are quite happy to ensure that paramedics are given the courtesy that they need. They take blood samples outside of the hospital and on the side of the road which is far more appropriate than the role of a doctor waiting until the patient actually gets to hospital.Just to finish before 6 o’clock New Zealand First supports this bill. We will be looking for some changes during the select committee process which we hope the Health Committee will listen favourably to. We look forward to working further on this bill and ensuring that it passes speedily through the House. Thank you.