Hon Tony Ryall National Party Health Spokesman

30 November 2005

Major A&E departments failing to see patients in time

All of New Zealand's major hospitals are failing to see emergency patients soon enough, according to National's Health spokesman, Tony Ryall.

The latest Hospital Benchmark Report for the June 2005 quarter shows that no major DHB in New Zealand is meeting all three benchmarks for triage waiting times.

"The report shows that four DHBs met all three benchmarks, but these are all smaller DHBs where fewer New Zealanders attend, not the major areas where a greater number of patients would go," says Mr Ryall.

"Labour has been spending billions of extra dollars on health and still they cannot get people seen by emergency departments as quickly as they should be.

"This is a case of Labour spending money on bureaucrats instead of on healthcare. They are full of excuses rather than action to fix the problem.

"Labour knows its A&E departments are still seriously underperforming, yet it still hasn't got the basics right," says Mr Ryall.

ENDS

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