Speech – The Maori Party

Today is a very good day to speak to this New Zealand Public Health and Disability Amendment Bill and to share the good news for Te Tai Tonga health. New Zealand Public Health and Disability Amendment Bill
Rahui Katene, MP for Te Tai Tonga
Wednesday 19 May 2010; 9.15pm

Today is a very good day to speak to this New Zealand Public Health and Disability Amendment Bill and to share the good news for Te Tai Tonga health.

In the Quarter three results released today, in four of the Government’s six health targets DHBs in the Te Tai Tonga rohe were featuring in the top four results of performance. Great news. It’s fantastic.

In fact there were some exceptional results for Southland DHB, which had improved access to elective surgery by 110 percent, and for Canterbury DHB by 109 percent.

And in the area of increased immunisation, Otago, Southland and South Canterbury DHBs took up first, second and fourth place in improving the targets for two year olds to be fully immunised.

There is a bit of bad news though I’m sorry. Where the results were not as good in comparison to other DHBs was in the target ‘better help for smokers to quit’.

Now that’s an area of considerable interest to the Maori Party of course and an area that I, for one, will be keeping a close eye over this next quarter. Hopefully those DHBs will improve and pick up their performance in those specific areas.

With this Bill today, such accountability and transparency will simply become part of the course.

The Maori Party welcomes the initiatives in this Bill to respond to the challenge of providing high quality health care and disability support service.

And I want to establish the context in which we read this Bill from the outset.

We read this Bill in the context of the emphasis on Maori health and the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi expressed in the primary bill.

And importantly, we see many of the initiatives specified within the Bill as being closed aligned to Whanau Ora

Much of the thrust of this Bill is about increasing efficiency by removing duplication between corporate and administration functions.

In this way it is a clear expression of a policy commitment we campaigned on – and that was to review the duplication of corporate and administrative functions between hospitals, PHOs and DHBs and whether there are any savings available if these duplications were removed.

As the Minister himself would say, it’s about working better, smarter and sooner.

It is also about a system in which public services have to be monitored by reports against targets.

The Bill amends the objectives and functions of District Health Boards to ensure that DHBs work together for the most effective and efficient delivery of health services to meet national, regional and local needs.

In these three key points then – streamlining bureaucracy; monitoring against targets – or more appropriately outcomes; and provider collaboration – there is a tight synergy with Whanau Ora.

We absolutely believe that DHBs should work together for the most effective and efficient delivery of health services.

But I want to make it quite clear – that while the changes are positive, we don’t believe that it is necessary to legislate for such change.

Collaboration to work more effectively and efficiently should be done naturally without being forced into it.

My colleague, Tariana Turia, has shared the amazing response as she has been zooming around the rohe, taking Whanau Ora throughout the country. It is has been fantastic, over 3500 people have attended and with such great enthusiasm.

One of the more exciting aspects of those hui has been the willingness of providers to consider collaboration – in the interests of a cohesive and comprehensive approach to whanau wellbeing.

Another aspect of this Bill is the structural changes to enhance quality improvement activity, including the establishment of a new crown agent, the Health Quality and Safety Commission.

One of the areas in the Maori Party health policy is the notion that the community must receive accurate information about the performance of hospitals, PHOs and DHBs, including the public reporting of adverse events.

While we welcome the emphasis on quality improvement, we do have some questions around the structural change – and would like to know the impact that setting the Commission up may have on the public service – how many jobs will be cut as a result?

While talking about personnel, another initiative in this Bill is to enable the appointment of elected DHB members to the boards of other DHBs.

In Te Tai Tonga, for instance, Tahu Potiki is a member of both the Southland and the Otago DHBs, so in many respects this Bill is reflecting current practice.

This is a positive development and will certainly assist in reducing duplication. Our only question around extending this approach to the nation is that we must ensure that we elect the right people to the Board in the first place.

Finally, there is just one question that we would like to raise and that is the concern about whether this legislation will give the Minister of Health a lot more power over DHBs – and if so what controls are in place to ensure this power is used wisely and not abused.

There is a great deal of change activity currently occurring within the health sector and in most respects this legislation reflects the direction on investing in a system where outcomes matter, where whanau matter; a system in which whanau ora becomes the norm.

And just on that note I was really pleased that the former Minister of Health, Annette King’s husband was present at the hui and showing great interest in Whanau Ora.

We support this Bill at this first reading.
ENDS

Content Sourced from scoop.co.nz
Original url