Grigg NicolaNICOLA GRIGG (National—Selwyn): I'm acutely aware that I'm following on in my commentary from a Dr Verrall a Dr Reti and now a Dr Craig. I won't be able to comment on the clinical aspects of this bill but what I can comment on on behalf of the National Party as our spokesperson for women is the benefits that the Health (National Cervical Screening Programme) Amendment Bill will bring to women across Aotearoa New Zealand. We in the National Party do have a long and proud track record of going into bat for and ultimately creating and changing law that ensures improvements to women's health.It was after all our party that instigated this amendment bill and indeed was in Government during the early 1990s when the National Cervical Screening Programme (NCSP) was rolled out. It seems that while the screening programme itself has grown and evolved since the 1990s the technology unfortunately has not which is why we are here this evening supporting this bill into law. It makes small technical changes that will deliver big results. Who would've thought that in the 30-odd years that this screening programme has been in place the dedicated health professionals like Dr Craig would still be relying on the same technology that they did all those years ago when it was first launched and indeed a fax machine.The amendments that have been traversed and canvassed around the House will allow health providers and staff to look up information directly using secure login via the internet. So it will essentially bring clinical information processes into the 21st century. I note in reading from submissions from those that have spoken to the Health Committee that district health boards particularly have submitted on this and they welcome the direct access to the NCSP Register and they're considering the amendments positive. Nurses too are saying that access to the full history of any woman will ensure recalls are not too often or too few and will allow HPV testing if and when required.I thought interestingly Family Planning provide about 19000 cervical smears a year and access to the NCSP Register will support greater efficiencies in cervical screening recall by being able to check directly to determine whether an individual on their recall list has had samples taken elsewhere since they last saw the patient.While it will speed up the process for smear takers in primary care importantly it does not compromise patient privacy. On that note some submitters have raised concerns that the access to confidential information is in breach of privacy law but it is comforting to see the Privacy Commissioner has said that he sees no outstanding privacy issues. I would like to acknowledge Minister Verrall for sharing her thoughts as we traversed this issue during the committee of the whole House stage. I did ask about the robustness of the platform and the testing that has taken place around protecting data security and she has confirmed to this House that it will be equivalent to the IT systems used by DHBs for other national programmes so she believes it is robust. So while this platform isn't unique what is unique is how very specific this legislation coming through this House is and that it will also enable future upgrades and improvements both to the IT and the screening programme itself.So all in all we on this side of the House support changes that will allow easier access to primary healthcare for women therefore improving the lives and welfare of New Zealand women. I commend this bill to the House.