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Leader's LetterJuly 2004
Health Budget Still WantingWhile the Health budget increases the amount of funding available for health, it will not provide the cure-all for the public hospital system's ailments. However, it can be considered to be an attempt to regain first world health system status. Our rate of intervention in the health area lags well below that of the international average of countries - like Australia, Canada and Britain - that we often compare ourselves to. If this additional funding allocated in the Budget enables some of the people requiring a hip or a knee replacement to get the surgery they need, that is good news, but there will still be a wait to see a specialist and then a queue for surgery. Unfortunately, many of the district health boards no longer have the resources necessary to carry out all of these joint operations because our health professionals are leaving New Zealand in ever increasing numbers. It was puzzling why hip and knee surgery was "selected" to be a priority for this budget rather than cataract surgery or cancer treatment or any other medical condition. It was also very disappointing not to see a requirement in this Budget for foreigners coming to visit New Zealand to have their own health insurance. The millions of dollars health debt left for the New Zealand taxpayer to pick up and pay is outrageous, particularly when it is so difficult to access the health system in a timely manner - and of course, we are still waiting for action on foreign mothers and the automatic citizenship issue. This Budget totally ignored the fact that we are still heavily reliant on Australia for the provision of cancer treatment. This treatment for both men and women appears to have been delegated to Australia. As the Rt Hon Winston Peters said in his Budget speech...."It's supposed to be a secret but the real reason that the Government bought into Air New Zealand was to take all of the cancer patients to Australia for treatment". A major cash injection such as that allocated in the Budget may keep the public hospital system on life support but the sooner the underlying problems are acknowledged the better. Barbara Stewart MP
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