Dont's Stop There, Labour

Friday 5 Dec 2003
Heather Roy
Press Releases -- Health

ACT's spokesman for Health, Heather Roy said today the advantages of private healthcare should be extended to patients on waiting lists.

"The benefits of quick hospital treatment for those on ACC and now the proposed same quick treatment for sickness and invalid beneficiaries shows that the Labour government has acknowledged the private health sector can and does provide effective and efficient treatment. The advantages of private healthcare should not however be limited to only these people," said Mrs Roy.

"Health Minister Annette King should be advocating on behalf of patients on waiting lists to have these same benefits available to them.

"Waiting lists have many costs - both in human and financial terms. Patients suffer psychologically and their conditions frequently deteriorate while they are forced to wait for the treatment medical specialists say they should have. Frequently it costs more to have patients wait for treatment - many patients require expensive hospital stays and medicines. These are costs which would have been avoided had they received surgery promptly. If the Ministers for ACC and Social Development can look at the big picture, so too should the Minister of Health.

"ACT believes patients should receive treatment from the provider that can give a quality service most cost effectively.

"The Health Minister needs to put aside her distaste for private hospitals and stop ideology being an impediment to good quality healthcare," Mrs Roy said.

ENDS

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