Healthcare funding merely cosmetic
25 May 2017
Today's Budget needed to do much more to save our public health care says ActionStation Co-Director Laura
O’Connell-Rapira.
“Although the Government responded to public pressure with allocations to the Health budget, it does not go far to
address the nine years of underfunding,” she says.
Thousands of New Zealanders supported a call for a missing $1.85 billion to be restored to the healthcare system in
combined petitions delivered nationally to MPs this month.
This month the Council of Trade Unions reassessed the figure of missing funding at $2.2 billion.
“It’s an emergency situation,” says O’Connell-Rapira. “Health funding is a huge priority for the ActionStation
community, and I would say this Budget will only increase the public concern. The Government response is very
disappointing.”
Today the Government has announced a $60m boost to Pharmac to allow greater access to medicines. Another $59.2m will be
put towards emergency services, which will allow all road ambulance call-outs to be double-crewed. $38.5m has been given
to continue rolling out a bowel screening programme.
“These sums are merely cosmetic,” says Ms O’Connell-Rapira. “Although the Government has responded to pressure from the
ActionStation community and many others on several fronts, it’s far from enough.”
Missing funding has put huge pressure on an overloaded public health system. District Health Boards (DHBs) are trying to
find ‘efficiencies’ to meet increased demands on services.
Just this week Waikato Hospital was unable to cope with demand and had to reschedule surgery and turn away non-emergency
patients.
“Too many people in Aotearoa today are held back from accessing necessary health care because they cannot see
specialists or get onto surgery lists,” says O’Connell-Rapira.
The Save our public health petitions: http://www.saveourpublichealth.com/
ends