﻿Mr SPEAKER: Question No 3, Hon Annette King.
Hon ANNETTE KING (Deputy Leader—Labour)
to the Minister of Health: What impact would a tighter
funding path for district health boards (DHBs) in 2015/16
have on their ability to provide quality, safe and timely services?
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN (Minister of Health):
It is a hypothetical question because, of course,
DHBs will be getting more money in the Budget, as they always have.
The member will just have to contain her excitement until 21 May.
What I can say is that despite tight financial times,
this Government has always made funding health its top
spending priority every year.
Hon Annette King: Would a tighter funding path,
as stated in the Cabinet paper he took to Cabinet in December,
lead to cuts in service, delays in service,
or mounting deficits in district health boards?
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: The paper that Annette King refers to
was never actually considered by Cabinet.
What I can say is that we will be putting more money into health.
But what we will not be doing is doubling the health budget,
as Annette King did, and at the same time delivering
2,000 fewer surgeries a year and sending 761 people
to Australia for cancer treatment.
Hon Annette King: Bearing in mind that it is 10 years
since I was the Minister—
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Just ask the question. [Interruption]
Order! That is an example whereby if the member
would just ask her question, rather than give an introduction
at the start, it would help her and me contain order in this House.
Hon Annette King: Do reports of mounting deficits in DHBs
for the 2015-16 financial year reflect a funding allocation
of $250 million, as recommended by Treasury, or $320 million,
as recommended by him?
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: What I can say on the matter of deficits
is that when Annette King was the Minister—
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Answer the question.
I can have the question repeated if that would be of assistance.
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: What I can say is that the member
is wrong on both counts. She has no idea what is in the Budget,
but it will be a nice surprise for her.
Hon Annette King: If there is sufficient funding for DHBs
for 2015-16 and they are going to get a nice surprise,
why did the chair of Tairāwhiti DHB say just 3 weeks ago:
“We have used all the fat in the system. We are really stretched.
"We can’t sustain this pressure”, with a $1.5 million deficit looming?
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: Mr David Scott never says things like that.
I know that he is very happy with the $27 million extra
that Tairāwhiti DHB has received under this Government,
the nine extra doctors, the 50 more nurses, and the 1,721
extra patients treated there than under Mrs King.
David Scott is very happy, and I know because he tells me.
Hon Annette King: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker.
I am asking for your help in this. The Minister just said that the chair
of the district health board did not say that. I can table the evidence—
Mr SPEAKER: Order! That is not the approach you must take
in raising a point of order. The member certainly made a statement
and effectively the Minister gave an alternative view,
alleged to be from the same man. If the member thinks there has been
a misleading of the House she knows the appropriate course of action,
and it is certainly not by way of a point of order.
Hon Annette King: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker.
The action I would like to take is to table the report from the chair
of the district health board, which is reported in the Gisborne Herald.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! If the member is seeking leave to table something
that is in the Gisborne Herald I am not interested in putting it.
Hon Annette King: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! The member will resume her seat.
If the member is going to relitigate the fact
that we are not tabling pieces of newspaper in the House,
then that is something I will take a very dim view on,
and she is likely to be leaving the Chamber.
Hon Annette King: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker.
Mr SPEAKER: A fresh point of order, the Hon Annette King.
Hon Annette King: I would like your advice.
When a Minister accuses a person on this side of the House
of not telling the truth—
Mr SPEAKER: Order! I have a very good mind to be asking
the member to leave the Chamber. [Interruption] Order!
I have advised the member what to do if she thinks
the Minister has made a statement that is factually incorrect.
She knows the procedure. She has been here for a very long time.
She does not raise it as a point of order. Supplementary question,
the Hon Annette King. [Interruption]
Supplementary question, otherwise we will be moving on.
Hon Annette King: Yes, Mr Speaker. Well, there are interjections across—
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Just ask the question.
Hon Annette King: If there is sufficient funding for 2015-16,
why did the chair of the Canterbury DHB say very recently:
“We need more resourcing … and the current funding is not keeping up.”,
and that compounding the lack of resources will create
an even bigger problem?
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: What I can say to that member
is that over the past 6 years Canterbury has received
an extra $269 million. There are an extra 143 doctors.
There are an extra 486 nurses—
Mr SPEAKER: Order! I will invite that question to be asked again.
Hon Annette King: If there is sufficient funding for 2015-16,
why did the chair of the Canterbury DHB say very recently:
“We need more resourcing … and the current funding is not keeping up.”,
and that compounding the lack of resources will create
an even bigger problem?
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: I have talked to Mr Cleverley
on many occasions and he tells me, actually,
that there is plenty of money there in that huge budget
that Canterbury has. He tells me that he is determined to continue
to provide excellent clinical services for the people of Canterbury.
[MEMBERS INTERJECT]
Hon Annette King: Is the Minister saying that the reports from both
the chair of Tairāwhiti DHB and the chair of Canterbury DHB
are incorrect, that the members did not say that,
and that they were lying?
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN: Well, the last time Annette King
raised a point like this in the House, she was saying that
Counties Manukau DHB had a hundred-million-dollar deficit.
We went away and checked, and it actually had a multimillion-dollar surplus.
So, no, I do not actually believe anything that member says, I am afraid.
[MEMBERS INTERJECT]
Mr SPEAKER: Question No 4.
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