Estimates Debate — Vote Health (continued)

I must say that it was a pleasure listening to the members of the Labour Opposition being so gracious about my colleague the Hon John Carter. It was great to hear the enthusiasm of the Hon Clayton Cosgrove when he heard that I was about to speak on the good news in terms of Vote Health, because, indeed, it is very good news. This year $528 million has been made available; $1.5 billion has been made available since National came into power in 2008.

But I want to talk about health promotion and disease prevention, which is something that Labour goes on and on and on about. We have an absolutely incredible record. First of all, I will mention immunisation. Back in 2007 in the order of 76 percent of 2-year-olds were covered. Now that figure has rocketed up to 90 percent. That is an absolutely excellent achievement in the last few years.

Let us look at the second thing: home insulation. Under the Labour Government something like 2,000 or 3,000 homes were insulated. Under the National Government 100,000 homes have been insulated, which is another great public health achievement. There is no doubt that a whole spectrum of respiratory illnesses is being prevented by this initiative, which has been executed so ably by the National Government.

Let us go on to rheumatic fever. This Budget puts $12 million into clinics for children. I think the plan is that something like 22,000 children will be covered in this particular initiative, which was something that the Labour Government talked about as one of its many, many priorities and strategies year after year. But what did National do? We put it into action.

Then we go on to smoking. What happened under Labour? There was something like a 10 percent increase in excise tax in 9 years. National has executed a 30 percent increase in excise tax, and we know that this is one of the most effective methods in reducing smoking and all the ill health that is associated with it.

Let us look at the roll-out of before-school checks. There were something like 1,000 or so under the Labour Government. All Labour could do was about 1,000 checks. Under National 100,000 children have had before-school checks, and something in the order of 8,500 children have gone on to have their eyesight corrected or have various other interventions that have helped their eyesight.

There is also the area of maternity. I must say that if ever there was an area of health promotion and disease prevention, it must be the area of maternity.

It is great to be able to take a call in the estimates debate on Vote Health. I want to focus on some of the achievements the Minister of Health, Tony Ryall, and his team have made in this area. Health is one of the few Budget portfolio areas, across all the portfolios, where we have actually been able to increase funding. Constituents will be pleased to know that health alone has received $1.5 billion worth of additional funding over a 3-year period, which is absolutely fantastic.

The recessionary environment in which National became the Government was an extremely difficult environment to come into. Many people would have said that the Government needed to cut its cloth to fit the revenue that was coming in the door. Well, we took a very practical approach to this, and there were some key areas within the Government spend—health being one of those and education being another of those key areas—where we continue to spend at and beyond the level we were previously spending. We are investing in the health of our community and in our education. There is nothing surer. It has paid huge dividends, particularly with the six key areas of focus that Tony Ryall has brought in with the new national standards in health. They are absolutely fantastic. In terms of cancer treatment, the Minister has focused each of the district health boards on lifting the bar in terms of cancer treatment. Focusing on that has made a huge difference.

Take immunisation. I know that in my own province of Hawke’s Bay, the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board and its immunisation team have lifted the level of child immunisation to levels that we would not have anticipated 2 or 3 years ago. As a team, through the district health nurses, they have done a fantastic job. It is interesting that the Labour Opposition would take time to criticise district health nurses and the work that they do in our communities to immunise young babies and to improve the health and welfare of groups in poverty. I think that work is fantastic, but Labour is concerned about it and that is a worry.

There have been other standards we have focused on, such as elective surgery. We have lifted the level of elective surgery, despite the difficult times. That has been absolutely fantastic. We have seen accident and emergency waiting times improve throughout district health boards around the country. Cardiovascular services have also improved. A wonderful initiative from the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board has been a nurse-led initiative to allow prescribing of diabetes medicines, which is a wonderful enabler that the Minister of Health, Tony Ryall, has implemented in this term of Government. It is absolutely fantastic. Smoking cessation is another focus we have in this Government, which is absolutely marvellous.

One of the things I want to focus on in the estimates debate is the more than $500 million being invested in hospital capital projects. I was particularly fortunate to be at the Napier Health Centre on Wellesley Road on Monday, where, as part of that $500 million capital investment, we were able to open a new digital X-ray facility. Absolutely sensational.

💬 Sue Moroney: It was Labour who put that money in.

The project started just 3 months ago. I am not sure how that could have been started under the Labour Government if it was started 3 months ago and is being implemented now.

Let us talk about the Napier Health Centre, which was going to close under Labour. That is what was going to happen under Labour. It was getting to the end of its 10-year lease, and the previous Government was going to close that centre.

💬 Sue Moroney: What rubbish!

Well, if that is rubbish, then what was the protest that I was a part of in the last term of Government? It was to make sure that that facility stayed open for the citizens of Napier, and it has. What is more important is that we have signed a 10-year lease now—in this term of Government; not under a Labour Government—that will ensure the longevity of that service for Napier residents. With this new digital radiology facility, I acknowledge Wietske Cloo, Andrew Lesperance, and Warrick Frater, who have brought about all these new services, and Mandy Robinson, who will head up the new digital service in Hawke’s Bay. This is fantastic.

In particular, I acknowledge the board of the district health board, led by Kevin Atkinson. He has done an amazing job of ensuring that that district health board will be one of the more profitable ones going forward, or that at least it will break even and reach profitability, which will be the first time we have seen that in many, many years. That is absolutely fantastic. Kevin has done an outstanding job.