Hon Tony Ryall
National Party Health Spokesman
31 January 2007

Patients advised: Mortgage homes to stay alive

When people have to mortgage their homes to pay for basic cancer treatment then it’s time someone in the Government took responsibility, says National’s Health spokesman, Tony Ryall.

"Why can't Helen Clark and Pete Hodgson see that the health system is getting bogged down in bureaucracy and patients are missing out badly? Is this what our health system has come to?”

Mr Ryall is commenting on news that a Taranaki doctor is advising sick patients to mortgage their homes to help pay for private health care.

GP Keith Blayney told the Taranaki Daily News: ‘Even people with proven cancers are having to wait for treatments. I have noticed it getting worse. It’s getting to the point where I tell everyone to go private.’

“This advice is being repeated in GP surgeries through out New Zealand and it’s not what New Zealanders expect from their health service,” says Mr Ryall.

“This is further proof of the Health Minister’s abject failure. In the past six years it has got harder and harder to qualify for an operation in our public hospitals. The thresholds have rocketed. Fewer people are getting operations.

“Around the country, cancer sufferers are being forced to wait past the recommended four weeks for treatment, while children with glue ear have to wait months for simple treatment.

“What happens to the people who have no savings and no house to mortgage?
“They are the very people Labour says they care about. Is this what Labour want?

“With smart use of the private sector, involving GPs and specialists, and strong focus on accountability from hospital bureaucrats, New Zealand could get so much better performance from our health system.”

ENDS

© Scoop Media