Todd McClay: National govt taking health care to a new level

Good quality healthcare is important for Rotorua families and under Budget 2013, the Government is investing more in health than ever before. Health Minister Tony Ryall has announced an extra $1.6 billion will be invested in the sector over four years, lifting total health spending to $14.7 billion.

Highlights include $70 million for aged care and dementia services, $35 million to combat diabetes and heart disease (leading causes of death in New Zealand) and increased support for DHBs to deliver record numbers for elective surgery, immunisation, and cancer care.

The extra investment in aged care and dementia services is particularly positive news for our community. Research shows increasing numbers of people are being diagnosed with dementia at a younger age and it is therefore important that the Government is making it a priority to improve help and support for age care services.

The investment will include $2 million over three years to support dementia awareness programmes and assistance for clinical teams in early detection of dementia, and $1.2 million over three years for dementia-related training for health care workers. A further $20 million will be invested over four years for home support services to help older New Zealanders stay in their homes longer.

In addition, district health boards have been funded to invest an additional $33.2 million on aged residential care subsidies over four years.

While many developed countries are freezing or reducing health funding, this Government is investing in health as part of our priority to deliver better public services. We have employed 1000 more doctors, 2000 more nurses, and 1000 fewer back-office staff.

The Lakes District Health Board has been working incredibly hard, putting more staff and investing more resources on the frontline. And we are seeing real results - Lakes is the number one DHB in the country for better access to elective surgery, shorter waits for cancer treatment, and continues to prioritise support to help smokers to quit.

Last year the Lakes DHB was ranked number one in New Zealand for access to elective surgery, surpassing the target by 20 per cent. The DHB is also ranked number one for shorter waits for cancer treatment, reaching 100 per cent of the target for all patients to have received their cancer treatment within four weeks.

These impressive results are only possible because of the hard work of our doctors, nurses and allied healthcare professionals. I continue to be impressed by their dedication to making the lives of local people better, and offer them my thanks for the excellent job they do.

Families with young children are also better supported, with every child in Rotorua up to 6 years of age now eligible to receive free doctor's visits 24 hours a day, with improved immunisation rates for toddlers, almost reaching the target of 95 per cent of all 2-year-olds to be fully immunised by 2017. With a further $1.6 billion investment over four years, we are committed to ensuring people in our community have better health care when they need it.