Bradford Sue: General Debate 
Bradford Sue: General Debate 
[Volume:625;Page:20244] 
SUE BRADFORD (Green) 
: 
 I rise in today’s general debate to shine some light once again on the question of Kaitaia Hospital. I realise that the Minister and her associates are rather tired of this topic and wish that the concerned residents of the district would just shut up and accept what the ministry and the Northland District Health Board have decided—that is that we must make do indefinitely without 24-hour 7-day-a-week surgical cover and rely on other means to get to Whangarei Hospital hours away over difficult terrain. However it is not as simple as that. Many residents of the far north simply do not accept our fate. 
I attended a public meeting of the Northland District Health Board in Kaitaia on Monday afternoon of this week when the venue was so packed that not everyone could get a seat or even get in the door. I doubt whether there are many district health board meetings around the country that are so enthusiastically attended. I commend the district health board for its courage in holding the meeting and for its clear presentation of the planned $9.3 million redevelopment of our hospital. However I believe it is the Minister the ministry and the Government that must be held to account in this matter and that the district health board is simply doing its best to implement decisions made basically at another level here in Wellington. That is why the future of Kaitaia Hospital is actually a critical political issue in this year’s election campaign for any candidate or any party that wants to win northern votes and I hope that the local community will continue to make its feelings known to candidates from all parties in the months ahead. 
There are a number of questions I would like to put to the Minister of Health and to the Labour Government. Why when the Far North District is one of the fastest-growing districts in New Zealand and welcomes ever-increasing numbers of tourists each year does the Government believe it should accept sub-standard hospital care? We are not asking for a high-tech hospital such as the hospitals provided in Auckland or Wellington or even in Whangarei. We are asking simply for access to basic services like the possibility of an appendicitis operation or the setting of a broken arm 24/7. Why is cost used as a reason for not restoring 24/7 cover to Kaitaia when many thousands of dollars are wasted all the time in transferring patients by helicopter and ambulance to Whangarei and when the board is currently operating a $2.5 million surplus? 
Is the Minister aware of the huge costs placed on a low-income population members of which are often obliged to find their own transport to Whangarei and back—and that is in an area where there is zero public transport? Is she aware of the practice at Whangarei Hospital of discharging—during the day or in the middle of the night—some far north patients in their pyjamas with no money or personal support? Has the Minister heard of some of the sad and ridiculous situations that are arising such as that of a patient with an appendix problem who was expected by Kaitaia Hospital to get himself to Whangarei even though he was sedated and in considerable pain or of patients with comparatively minor injuries such as cut fingers or broken wrists likewise being required to find their own way south to seek help because it cannot be provided in town? 
That is a ridiculous and an unacceptable situation in 21st century New Zealand. All of us should be able to expect a reasonable level of hospital care within the district where we live. For many people in the north the trip to Whangarei is not the 2½ hours it is from Kaitaia which is bad enough but up to 4 or 5 hours if someone comes from one of the more remote settlements. Members in this House will be aware of the explosion that took place in the engineering workshop at Kaitaia College a few weeks ago. Although the service provided by the hospital at that time could not be faulted—indeed I acknowledge all the effort that went in that day in helping to ensure that no lives were lost—at the same time I think that unfortunate incident raises yet again the question about what would happen if we had a crisis of even greater magnitude. For example what would happen if a tourist bus went off a cliff or if there was a major vehicle accident or fire? We are a district that engages in high-risk occupations like fishing farming and forestry. We are a growing economy whose people deserve the same standard of care as the citizens of other provincial districts around the country. 
The solution that has been offered to us by the Government and the district health board although well meaning is simply not acceptable and simply not enough to meet our needs. I call on Labour to rethink its whole position on Kaitaia Hospital. This is an issue that will not go away and I challenge the Government to have the daring and the foresight to admit that it has made a mistake and to start again with the goal of providing the services the far north needs and deserves not an endless second best.