Act pledges fast treatment

Act guarantees patients prompt treatment at taxpayers' expense.

Leader Richard Prebble gave the guarantee while launching the party's health policy yesterday.

"Act's guarantee is that when patients have been waiting past the medically acceptable safe time for treatment, Act will require hospital boards to refer those patients to a private hospital for their operation, treatment or service."

The taxpayer would pay.

Act regarded a private-public partnership as the best solution to problems such as waiting lists.

Mr Prebble said people had died waiting for operations.

"The only solution is to use the capabilities of both the public and private sectors."

In Wellington, 220 people awaiting heart surgery were now beyond the "medically acceptable" safe time of six months, he said.

There was capacity in the private sector to carry out operations on those waiting on the public list.

Act's policy would save money, as the decades-old Gibbs Report had found that the most cost-efficient public hospital was more expensive than the most inefficient private one.

That was still true today, said Mr Prebble.

Act health spokesman Ken Shirley said the key policies were:

* Economic growth that would make healthcare more affordable.

* Tax cuts that would allow people to have more comprehensive health insurance.

* No cuts in health spending.

* Replacing race-based health priorities with need-based criteria.

* Reviewing mental health deinstitutionalisation and the present health service crisis.

- NZPA

Full news coverage:
nzherald.co.nz/election

Election links:
The parties, policies, voting information, and more

Ask a politician:
Send us a question, on any topic, addressed to any party leader. We'll choose the best questions to put to the leaders, and publish the answers in our election coverage.