Thursday, 6 December 2007

Tony Ryall MP
National Party Health Spokesman

6 December 2007

More managers than doctors hired at Wellington hospital

National Party Health spokesman Tony Ryall says Capital and Coast District Health Board has hired more bureaucrats than doctors since 2000.

According to figures obtained through parliamentary questions, Capital and Coast DHB has hired 64 managers or administrators since 30 June 2000. It has hired 59 doctors since then.

"The board's secret plan to cut 50 doctors will take Wellington Hospital back to roughly the same number of doctors as it had eight years ago.

"After seven years and hundreds of millions in extra funding, the DHB has chosen health bureaucrats ahead of doctors."

Facing parliamentary questions today, Health Minister David Cunliffe first denied there were plans to cut doctors, then later confirmed that the report did indeed identify a number of doctor positions that were surplus when compared with national norms.

"Something is simply not right within Capital and Coast Health. The doctors and nurses are doing their best in difficult circumstances. National believes these frontline personnel should be more engaged in the decision-making process."

Mr Ryall is repeating his call for David Cunliffe to take urgent action over the situation at Capital and Coast, which is lurching from crisis to crisis.

"He's telling Wellingtonians that their mounting concerns over conditions at the capital's hospital will have to wait while he dithers over whether to sack a board which is stacked with Labour appointees, appoint a new board, or appoint a commissioner.

"Reports yesterday said one patient a month was becoming a victim of a serious or even fatal preventable incident at the hospital. How many more victims will there have to be?"

1999/00 2006/07 99/00 to 06/07 FTEs FTEs Change Capital & Coast Management/Admin 645 709 64 Medical 388 447 59

SOURCE: OIA Response (as counting method changed).

ENDS

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