Barbara Stewart MP
Spokesperson for Health

7 August 2013

Focus on Public Hospital Targets Out Of Control

The Government’s obsession on Public Hospitals getting patients through emergency departments as quickly as possible is getting out of control, says New Zealand First’s associate spokesperson for health Barbara Stewart.

“The aim seems to be to process people and get them out the doors and back onto the street as fast as possible, regardless of age or infirmity.

“I was recently advised of hospital staff sending a 90 year old home from Tokoroa Hospital at 2:30 am.

“Her neighbour had to be woken in the early hours of the morning to come and collect her.”

“The Minister of Health’s response to questions about this unsatisfactory situation was to promote public hospital waiting time targets.

“He has unfortunately lost sight of the fact that real people are involved.

“Hospitals are not factories with production lines.

“This Government is putting the health and safety needs of our elderly on the back-burner in favour of statistics that look good on paper but are appalling in practise,” said Mrs Stewart.

ENDS

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