INDEPENDENT NEWS

Health law debacle sign of things to come

Published: Thu 7 Dec 2000 05:51 PM
Wyatt Creech
National Health Spokesperson
7 December 2000
Health law debacle sign of things to come
The mess around the Government's handling of the health restructuring legislation does not bode well for the future of health services, National Health spokesperson Wyatt Creech said today.
"New Zealanders have been promised big improvements to health services from this restructuring. The Government's mishandling of the reforms to date does not give much hope that the changes will see the delivery of better health care.
"The health restructuring legislation has only just been passed, a week after the whole thing was meant to come into effect, and its implementation date has been delayed.
"We warned at the outset the health restructuring was going too far too fast, and it would hit problem after problem.
"And so far we've been right.
"The Health Minister missed deadlines for policy decisions, the changes - which included the Treaty of Waitangi clause - were poorly thought through and there was no where near enough time for people to have their say on the legislation.
"The select committee process was a complete shambles, people didn't have enough time to have their say, and the committee had to fast-track its consideration to meet impossible deadlines.
"We've seen the mismanagement of the reforms unravel in Parliament.
"All this gives National very little confidence that the restructuring will be implemented successfully and smoothly. What we'll get instead is more administration, money that should be going into health care being spent on more bureaucracy and people being diverted from delivering services into structural change.
"Everyone working in health is suffering reform fatigue - now the law is passed we'll see this getting worse."
Ends

Next in New Zealand politics

Concerns Conveyed To China Over Cyber Activity
By: New Zealand Government
GDP Decline Reinforces Government’s Fiscal Plan
By: New Zealand Government
New Zealand Provides Further Humanitarian Support To Gaza And The West Bank
By: New Zealand Government
High Court Judge Appointed
By: New Zealand Government
Parliamentary Network Breached By The PRC
By: New Zealand Government
Tax Cuts Now Even More Irresponsible
By: New Zealand Labour Party
View as: DESKTOP | MOBILE © Scoop Media