Health Cuts Hurt

MEDIA RELEASE SUNDAY 21 MAY 2006
Eleanor Carter, Spokesperson Health Cuts Hurt Inc

“The Government’s pumped up claims of an extra $750m of health funding will only increase the frustration of the roughly 20,000 patients who have been cut from waiting lists in 2006,” Chairperson of Health Cuts Hurt, Eleanor Carter said today. She was commenting on last week’s Budget and reaction to it from health groups which said it would have little impact on the waiting lists problem.

“Health Cuts Hurt was set up because 10,000 Cantabrians were slashed from waiting list in 2003 due to underfunding from the Population Based Funding formula,” said Eleanor Carter. “Waiting lists and the funding model have now become the number one political problem for the Government nationwide.”

“The Government needs to be honest and say that at least $500m of the $750m increase is merely needed to retain services at exactly the same level as in 2005,” said Eleanor Carter. “Cost increases in the health sector are running higher than in other sectors partly because it is a 24/7 operation and for example, higher penal rates on statutory holidays now cost hospitals considerably more.”

Eleanor Carter said that given that a significant amount of the $750m of ‘new’ money was also directed to specific programmes in primary care, obesity and aged care, there is real concern within the Health Sector that there will have to be further actual cuts to elective surgery and specialist assessment. “Ironically extra access to GPs only increases the frustration. The Government needs to now face up and deal with this issue - which patently the Budget failed to do.”

SUNDAY 14 MAY 2006
Press Release: Health Cuts Hurt Inc

“Thursday’s budget must deal with the underlying issue - proper funding, not bulk under funding, of public hospital waiting lists,” Eleanor Carter Spokesperson of Health Cuts Hurt said today.

She was commenting on the spectacle of further cuts to waiting lists across NZ as the population watches sicker and sicker patients being referred back to their GPs, while the Minister of Health talks of a ‘manufactured crisis.’

“Funding for operations has to be related to patient need not some arbitrary financial figure based on out of date statistics. The Government terms its bulk funding model called ‘population based funding’ as if it were fair. The situation is worst in the Canterbury DHB where this arbitrary formula means actual funding cuts to that region,” said Eleanor Carter.

“The Government promised on its election pledge card before the 1999 election that it would cut waiting times for operations,” said Eleanor Carter. “The public is seeing it cut waiting lists, but not in the way we expected.”

“There needs to be a substantially bigger funding cake provided so that the Minister, who publicly rated our health system as 5.5 out of 10, can allow it to get closer to the 10 out of 10 it should be. New Zealander will be watching Thursday’s budget very closely to see if this substantial boost occurs, along with recognition that the PBF model needs re-examination,” said Eleanor Carter.