Sunday 11 February 2001

Annette King's bragging about the reduction in hospital waiting lists is a bit like her trying to claim credit for a fine day, National's Health spokesperson Roger Sowry said today.

"There have been no policy changes of substance in the area of elective waiting lists since Labour and the Alliance came into office so it's a bit rich for her to try and claim credit for the good news.

"All of the progress being made in this area is a direct result of policies put in place by the National Government.

"Today's news of a 56 percent drop in waiting lists follows the trend line that started when National implemented the booking system in 1997/1998.

"The risk now is that we will see this trend reversed as the Minister starts to roll out her own programme for our health system," Mr Sowry said.

Ends

© Scoop Media