No help for patients in Budget, surgeons say

Surgeons have hit out at the budget saying that it will doing nothing to solve the plight of people awaiting elective surgery or specialist assessment.

Murray Pfeifer, of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, said the Budget had money for some positive initiatives but it ignored a major issue.

"While the Government is touting this as an investment budget it is difficult to see how it has invested in getting thousands of distressed New Zealanders off waiting lists and into surgery," Dr Pfeifer said.

"The Budget fails to address the inequities of people waiting for elective surgery. There seems to be little or no additional funding for hospital services and inpatient elective surgical services."

The budget increased health funding by $750 million taking it to $10.6 billion this financial year. Spread over four years aged care would get additional funding of $126m, child health $80.4m and battling obesity $76m.

Dr Pfeifer, who is New Zealand national board chairman for the college, said considering the high profile elective surgery problem the budget was "unbalanced and disappointing".

"The budget will do nothing to resolve the increasing gap of unmet need and without an injection of new funding it is difficult to see anything other than deterioration in an already parlous situation," he said.

National Party health spokesman Tony Ryall raised the same concern yesterday, saying: "The 180,000 patients on hospital waiting lists must wait and wonder why the Government does nothing for their pain."

Waiting lists have dogged Health Minister Pete Hodgson after thousands of patients were dumped off lists in the past year.

However Mr Hodgson denied there was a crisis and recently said the percentage of people with a wait time of less than six months has increased by nearly 10 per cent since 2000.

Around half of people in need of a specialist assessment have a wait time of less than two months.

"At any one time we have tens of thousands of people who need to be assessed for treatment in our public hospitals," Mr Hodgson said.

"Under this government people are being assessed faster and faster every year, allowing them to get a clear picture of whether or not they require treatment."

He said the share of people with a wait time of less than six months has increased from 70.5 per cent in 2000 to 80.4 per cent last year.

Dr Pfeifer said he was pleased to see workforce included as a priority for health but without specifics about how it would be funded said it was hard to see what real progress could be made.

"We are clearly disappointed about what our part of the health sector has been offered in this budget however we look forward to meeting with the minister to do what we can to sort out waiting lists and improve the workforce."

The funding for elder care has also been criticised with the New Zealand Nurses Organisation saying it let down carers.

It said if the entire amount went to pay increases it would amount to 51 cents an hour for a caregiver getting the average rate of $10.85 an hour.

Paediatric Society president Nick Baker welcomed the child health package which included funding for dental care and more health checks and a universal hearing screening programme for newborns.

- NZPA