of that opinion will say Aye. To the contrary, No. The Ayes have it. The
House now comes to Oral Questions.
Question No. 1, in the name
of the Hon Annette King.
My
My question is to the
Is he satisfied that the current level
level of investment into public
into public health facilities and services
and services is meeting acceptable
standards
Mr
Mr Speaker, yes. The Government has invested
Mr Speaker, yes. The Government has
refurbished health facilities over the past eight years up and
down the country. The list is long, but some
exemples include major upgrades
at Waikato and wite matta, and new
facilities at Whakatane, New
Plymouth and Canterbury. West
Coast is next, then Dunedin. In terms of
New Zealand's
is next, then Dunedin. In terms of
services, it's difficult to find a service that hasn't improved under
this Government. But, of course,
there's always mere to do. In
light of that answer, why has he not
taken action to address the
permanent overcrowding of the Emergency
Department at Waikato Hospital,
which led to management wanting
to put beds in the
corridors with patients being given cowbells to
ring the
patients being given cowbells to
member finds the issue amusing but, look, the fact is, I've
had reports from the health target
look, the fact is, I've had reports look,
look, the fact is, I've had reports what's happening in our EDs around
the country. I
specifically spoke about Waikato. They have got a
very specific plan around the ED there,
and I'd just remind the member
that, in the last budget,
Waikato's funding went up by
in the last budget, Waikato's
over the past eight years. Of course, they've also had
that major upgrade of their facilities. And
they are providing
very, very good services to the people of
Waikato catchment area. Why has he allowed
find the capital funding to rebuild their forensic mental health unit,
which has reported not to meet fire
or health and safety regulations,
is not fit for purpose, and from which
22 forensic patients have
absconded
going on at Kinnapuru Hospital. We've actually turned around the
situation at Capital
We've actually turned around the
inherited from Mrs King. Much worse than your time, I'm afraid. Oh,
dear. Back to that old stuff, are
set at a level to meet growing demands for service, why did the
chief executive of Southern
DHB admit yesterday that
chief executive of Southern DHB
investing enough money into primary and community mental
investing enough money into primary
the only options were for more funding or making
the only options were for more
Of course, Mrs King's answer is always more funding, but I'm
delighted to tell her, actually, at
Southern DHB, we've put in an extra
the Budget at this point. We've actually had quite a job turning
around the mess at Southern
DHB. As you know, there's a commissioner in
there. We'll be rebuilding
the hospital there. And there's
a firm plan for
plan for turning the place around. But we had deficits of
plan for turning the place around.
year. So it's getting better all the time. The key thing is
year. So it's getting better all the
actually missed out on vital services there.
actually missed out on vital services there. What
tough decisions does he recommend Southern DHB take
in light of the warning given by
the mental health and addiction Network
to the DHB that patients could be
stranded without services if
extra
Is
Is going to be stranded without services. The decisions are always
difficult in health but actually
the easy decision for
people in Dunedin this year will be to vote
for National. That would be stupid. How
can he continue to deny under
funding of mental health services
when DHB's acute adult bed
numbers have decreased
when DHB's acute adult bed numbers
face of increased readmission rates within 28 days
face of increased readmission rates
As the member well knows, the model of care around mental health has
changed dramatically. We
are actually treating
actually treating more and more people in the commurnty. That
was happening under the
Labour Government. Over the last five years
we are treating an
extra 28,000 people per year compared to
five years ago. That is an
people per year compared to five
So there's more people we're treating. There's more
money we are putting into it. We are doing
more all the time but, of
course, there is always more to be done.
My
My question is to the Minister
My question is to the
How would he describe the state of
Aotearoa's rivers and
the state of Aotearoa's