Wagner Nicky: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Wagner Nicky: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:663;Page:11432] 
5. 
NICKY WAGNER (National) 
 to the  
Minister of Health 
: Does he stand by all of his recent statements on health services? 
Hon TONY RYALL (Minister of Health) 
: 
 Yes including the statement that the Government has increased funding for positron emission tomography scans this year by $800000 and next year by $1 million annually. Positron emission tomography scans are a specialised scan that is used to detect and evaluate some cancers and can provide information about whether the cancer has spread and whether surgery is necessary. This increased funding will increase access for up to an extra 550 cancer patients a year—a near doubling of the existing number of patients with access to those scans. 
Nicky Wagner 
: What benefits will there be for patients from this announcement? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: The Government inherited a situation where some district health boards referred their cancer patients for positron emission tomography scans and others did not. That is clearly not fair or equitable. This new money is being spread across district health boards on an equitable basis nationwide to benefit 550 extra cancer patients across the country each year. The benefit for patients is that up to 40 percent may have their treatment plans revised after a positron emission tomography scan and many of them will avoid unnecessary surgery chemotherapy or radiation treatment. 
Hon Annette King 
: In light of his statements about Herceptin was additional funding provided in Budget 2010 for extra cardiac checks for women undertaking the 12-month therapy with breast cancer drug Herceptin; if so how much was provided? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: I do not have the detail of that specific matter with me. I would say though that we have made money available for improving cardiac surgery because we were concerned about the number of people waiting—a situation we inherited as a Government. 
Hon Annette King 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Maybe the Minister misheard me. I did not say “cardiac surgery”; I asked about cardiac checks for women who are taking Herceptin. That is what I asked. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: It is a bit unusual to allow this but I accept the point the honourable member is making. Could the Minister please answer that part of the question. The Minister indicates he has no further information on that. It seems he does not have the information. 
Hon Annette King 
: Are the figures from Statistics New Zealand—which show that medical inflation continues to outstrip the CPI jumping to 5.3 percent—correct; if so on what basis did he make the claim that the Government has protected health spending when the average percentage increase he has given to district health boards is 3.5 percent with some district health boards getting as little as 2 percent? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: That claim was made clearly on the basis that when we look at the costs overall that district health boards are facing we see that they are getting a very significant funding increase. In fact funding today is a higher percentage of GDP than provided by any Government previously. I say to the member opposite that a heck of a lot more is being achieved than was achieved during her failed term as Minister of Health in this country.