Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Deborah Powell: Resident Doctors' Association National Security on Health NZ's overspending

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Deborah Powell: Resident Doctors' Association National Security on Health NZ's overspending · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Bryan Bridge.
• 0:01
  Speaker 2: Health New Zealand's border is being replaced by a new commissioner,
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: Professor Lester Levy, who was recently appointed the Chair of
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: Health New Zealand, will take charge of the organization for
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: a twelve month term. Health Minister Shane Retti has made
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: the move following what he called serious concerns around oversight,
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: overspend and a significant deterioration in the financial outlook. In
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: other words, financially, it's up the creek. Deborah Powell is
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: the New Zealand Resident Doctors Association National Secretary and she's
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: with me now. Deborah. Good morning, Deborah, good to have
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: you on the show. First of all, your reaction to
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: what the minister announced yesterday.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: Oh, it's a sad day in health. I have to
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: say whenever we get a board replaced by the autographic
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: system that is a commissioner, it's always a bad day.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: It's also a bad day because the sole focus is
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: funding and money and it's important. I'm not saying it's not,
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: but it shouldn't be the sole focus. We should be
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: focused on our workforce, which Minister Etti then say would
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: be the priority, and we should be focusing on investing
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: in both workforce and our infrastructure to turn us around.
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: So no, it wasn't a good announcement. I'm a grade
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: is it?
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: Can you not see where he's coming from?
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: Though?
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  Speaker 2: Because if you're putting in, if you're overspending by one
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: hundred and thirty million dollars per month, you've got it,
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: apparently an increase in full time equivalent workers, plus you've
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: got an increase in contractors, but the results are not
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: going up at the same rate. I mean, something's clearly wrong,
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: isn't there isn't it?
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: Well, our fundamental problem and I do see where he's
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: coming from. In one hand that let me explain. Our
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: fundamental problem is that we're underfunded. And it's not so
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: much mismanagement as underfunding. And quite frankly, I am sick
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: of successive governments blaming the government before for the underfunding.
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: We've been underfunded since the last Labor government and the
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: national government before that, and it's time to turn that around.
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: The money we get is always in catch up mode
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: these days. We need to get into an investment phase. Secondly,
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: and look, I'll use a real live example. We have
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: MRI scanners. These are part of the radiology group that
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: diagnose and then monitor treatment of patients their magnetic resonance
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: imaging scanners for the long term, so we call them mrs.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: We have mrs interfatile Aora at this very moment lying
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: idle because we don't have the workforce to run them.
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: So of course cancer patients who need diagnosis and monitoring
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: are getting held up. Our weight lists are going for
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: surgery inpatients are sitting around because they need an MR
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: before we can actually release them to go home. So
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: these things are going on. But sorry, it's a bit long,
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: but we're spending This government has said thirty million dollars
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: more to outsource to private in order to get the
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: staff we need to run the scanners. We already have
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: one point five million. So yes, it is about the money.
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: But if you put your focus on workforce first, an
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: actual fact, you get a better financial outcome. And that's
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: where they're going wrong.
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: Well, well, is that not the point that shaneyit is
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: making exactly that he is going to be focusing on
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: the front line to make sure that those services are there.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but I haven't seen any of it. And what
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: we're all the signals we're getting is thirty million for
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: outsourcing one point five to support competitive rates of pay
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: for our own staff. No. Right, that's what we're seeing.
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: In a word, Deborah, because we are out of time.
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: Have the reforms is the creation of health in New Zealand?
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: Has that made the situation better or worse?
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: I think it's made it better. Before we had twenty
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: district health boards competing and that was wasting money. We
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: were duplicating services. It has been a difficult transformation, there's
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: no two ways about it. But it's still early days
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: in such a big change. It's only two years in
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: and going back into more restructuring, ref focusing regionally instead
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: of nationally. Look, it's just going to be more wasted
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: energy and resources, all right.
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: Debraah, thank you very much for your time. Nice to
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: have you on the show. Doctor Debrah Powell, who's the
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: New Zealand Resident Doctors Association National Secretary. For more from
• 4:13
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• 4:17
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• 4:19
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