King Annette: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeKing Annette: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 25 May 2016. Volume:714;Page:11244. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]6.Hon ANNETTE KING (Deputy Leader—Labour) to the Minister of Health: What dollar increase in core Crown health expenditure is required to meet all demographic and inflationary cost pressures in 2016/17?Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN (Minister of Health): The technical costs of population ageing and inflation for any given year are never known until that year is completed. The member should know that core Crown expenditure is a different measure from Vote Health which is the main measure that is used for health spending. Vote Health funding shows that health is up by $4 billion under this Government which is above population growth and inflation. The member knows that there is not a single health service that has not improved over the last 8 years. I suggest that Labour focuses on services and outcomes rather than calling for more spending and higher taxes.Hon Annette King: In light of his answer that we have to wait until the end of year what percentage for demographic cost pressures did he use to give district health boards their funding indication for 2016-17?Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: You are just going to have to wait until the Budget—one sleep to go. You know that.Hon Annette King: In light of the public criticism last week by General Practice New Zealand at the chronic underfunding of practices will he ensure that General Practice New Zealand receives the extra $20 million to $26 million it is seeking to meet all inflationary pressures or is he happy for doctors’ fees to rise?Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: Unlike the member I get around a lot of general practices and I am getting very good feedback from doctors who are actually doing the work on the ground as opposed to Labour Party members who might work in the health sector.Hon Annette King: Will the Budget address the concerns of the Orthopaedic Association which said recently that patients waiting for surgery were sicker than once was the case and that they had two options: pay up or wait until their hips and knees got worse?Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: The orthopaedic surgeons are actually very happy because we are doing an extra 6000 orthopaedic operations per year compared with when we came into Government—an extra 2000 hips and knees. There are an extra 110000 appointments right across the system and an extra 50000 electives to go with the extra 6000 doctors and nurses. So actually the feedback from the orthopaedic specialists has been very very good.Hon Annette King: When he said last week that people were getting access to the mental health and addiction services they need was he aware that he was using misleading data because 70 percent of 44500 young people in 2015 did not receive help in 3 weeks as he claimed and it was 70 percent of 15000?Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: The master of misleading data is Mrs King. The fact is that in 2015 70 percent of young mental health patients were seen within 3 weeks and 91 percent were seen within 8 weeks. Four years ago only two-thirds were seen within 21 days. So actually we are seeing more people we are seeing them quicker and the service is a lot better than when Mrs King was running it.Hon Annette King: I seek leave to table a Ministry of Health document taken off its policy priority web page entitled PP8—very hard to get access to.Mr SPEAKER: Order! No if it is available on the website—Hon Annette King: Well the Minister did not see it.Mr SPEAKER: Order! If it is available on the website members can get it.Hon Annette King: If he used the demographic cost pressure of 2.7 percent and inflation of 0.4 percent as of March would the increase in core Crown health expenditure need to be at least $600 million in Budget 2016-17; if not what should it be?Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: The member is confusing core Crown health expenditure with Vote Health. Core Crown health expenditure includes various elements of ACC part of the workplace and safety vote bits of the health vote—actually she fundamentally does not understand the structure of the vote. It is very surprising after 30 years in Parliament.