National's Health Policy
Recently we heard that Palmerston North Hospital is in strife, with the Emergency Department (ED) struggling to stay open due to a lack of doctors available to cope. MidCentral DHB is advising people to see their GP first in order to take the pressure off.
This is easier in theory than in practice for us Horowhenua people. Firstly, it’s hard to find a GP after-hours and the new Horowhenua Health Centre hasn’t delivered on its’ promises to provide an after hours service. Hopefully, a triage nurse will soon be provided as a starting point to ease the need to travel to Palmerston North Hospital.
The health shuttles are a fantastic idea for day time patient travel, but at night St Johns Ambulance service is struggling to provide a reliable double crew service. I understand three new ambulance officers are arriving soon for Levin and Otaki and this should help boost this vital service.
In trying to understand some of the health issues in MidCentral – especially the shortage of doctors – it’s interesting to note that in the past seven years the MidCentral DHB has hired 163 management and administration staff while the number of medical staff has increased by only 27. That’s six times more management staff compared with doctors employed.
Further reports say MidCentral had 35 junior doctor vacancies in February, so it’s no wonder it is short of doctors to man the emergency department. To cover this shortage, MidCentral is spending big on junior doctor locums.
It is forecasting to spend more than $5 million this year on locum doctors alone to help full a dire shortage of fulltime staff. The Resident Doctors Association says many junior doctors are turning to locum work as it is more lucrative for fewer hours.
The issue has also highlighted that not enough doctors are being trained and the lure of better wages and conditions overseas is attracting large numbers of our best and brightest.
Apparently staff have been so busy at Palmerston North Hospital trying to manage workloads that monitoring and measuring of patient waiting times etc has slipped off the radar. Without thorough reporting, the Government can’t determine the extent of the problems in our health system and can’t put things right.
This all makes it extremely difficult to see the increased benefits from the extra $5 billion a year that Labour is pumping into health. Elective surgeries and first specialist assessments have barely increased and waiting lists continue to grow.
So, what would a National Government do:
First, elective surgery should be separated from emergency surgery where possible. This will allow health professionals to concentrate on elective operations without being interrupted by urgent cases.
Secondly, GPs with special interests should be able to provide a wider range of minor surgery in their clinics. This will help our hospitals focus on more major elective surgery, and help reduce waiting times.
Thirdly, DHBs should be able to make smarter use of the private sector. Our health system should focus on making sure patients get the surgery they need sooner, rather than obsess about who owns the facility they are treated in. Public-private partnerships can take advantage of spare capacity in private hospitals. This will increase the availability of elective surgery and reduce waiting times.
Finally, the Labour Government should stop spending ever more money on health bureaucracy, and start training and supporting more doctors and nurses. Taxpayer’s money should be spent more wisely to get the best value for the health dollar. We all deserve better, sooner.