Professor calls for rethink on health spending

Professor Paul McDonald says New Zealand needs to change its approach to healthcare, at a Massey University alumni event at Havelock North Community Centre. Photo / Duncan Brown

A visiting scholar has called for a dramatic shift in the Government's approach to healthcare.

Speaking to an audience of about 90 people at a Massey University alumni event in Havelock North Community Centre, Professor Paul McDonald said the Government's current healthcare strategy was unsustainable.

The Pro Vice-Chancellor of the university's College of Health said the rising healthcare costs in New Zealand were part of a worldwide trend.

"Over the last decade the healthcare budget has gone up by an average of 4.2 per cent per year, which is unsustainable in the long-term.

"We've got to stop blaming seniors for the increases in healthcare costs. We have to spend a lot of money on individuals in the last six months of their lives, no matter what age they are, and we assume therefore it must be because of population ageing."

He said the Government should invest less money in healthcare and more money in social services, education and reducing poverty.

"We think if we give people enough pills or use enough technology, that's the best way to treat the problem.

"We need to rethink the way we approach health and healthcare. We think about health as a series of medical challenges that sometimes can have social consequences. We would be better served by thinking of health as a series of social challenges and opportunities, that sometimes have medical consequences."

It was better to treat a patient while considering his or her wider environment, he said.

"Any given individual's health is very much a function of the health and wellbeing of all the people in their social communities. It illustrates that we are interconnected with one another, including perfect strangers.

"Our actions have to be collective in nature. We have to use policy as an instrument.

"It has to be aimed at increasing education and reducing poverty."

Professor McDonald is an award-winning health researcher and scholar.