Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Simeon Brown: Health Minister comments on $100million medical infrastructure boost

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Simeon Brown: Health Minister comments on $100million medical infrastructure boost · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

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  Speaker 1: Is the government spending one hundred million of cash from
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  Speaker 1: the budget on upgrading hospitals across the country. Twenty one
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: projects will get funding for things like car parks, new
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: transit lounges, edy upgrades and labs. Simeon Brown is the
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  Speaker 1: Health Minister, and he joins me, now, good morning.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning, how are you good?
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  Speaker 1: Thank you? Now these new projects tell me when are
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  Speaker 1: they going to be delivered by?
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  Speaker 2: So the twenty one new projects will be delivered There
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  Speaker 2: is a start as soon as possible. They'll be delivered
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  Speaker 2: over most in twenty twenty six and some of them
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  Speaker 2: going into twenty twenty seven. And ultimately this is about
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  Speaker 2: looking at how we can use our current facilities, make
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  Speaker 2: them more efficient, deliver more care for patients and also
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  Speaker 2: provide a number of construction jobs up and down the
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  Speaker 2: country while they're underway.
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  Speaker 1: Twenty one projects, as you say, across the country, it's
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  Speaker 1: quite a lot. Is one hundred million enough?
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  Speaker 2: These are mostly small scale projects, the largest as the
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  Speaker 2: new infusion clinic at Menecow Health Park. And ultimately that
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  Speaker 2: making sure we use the space that we've got more
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  Speaker 2: efficiently and effectively. We all need to deliver more into
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  Speaker 2: our health infrastructure we delivered as part of our budget,
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  Speaker 2: also a major investment in Nelson Hospital, major rebuild of
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  Speaker 2: Nowson Hospital. Last friday, I signed the Healthy zeal and
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  Speaker 2: signed the new to need In Hospital main construction contract.
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  Speaker 2: So it's great to get that construction contract underway. So
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  Speaker 2: we have to also be delivering these major rebuilds, but
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  Speaker 2: we also have to make sure we are delivering for
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  Speaker 2: those frontline clinicians in these hospitals so that they're able
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  Speaker 2: to be able to deliver that care for patients that
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  Speaker 2: they wish to and they need to.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's sensible and it's good to see that you're
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  Speaker 1: utilizing existing facilities, but is this a bit of a
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  Speaker 1: band aid solution? Are we doing just enough to keep
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  Speaker 1: these hospitals?
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  Speaker 2: We have to do. We have to do it the
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  Speaker 2: major rebuilds, but we also need to make sure that
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  Speaker 2: the current clinical space that we've got for our clinicians
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  Speaker 2: and our patients is up to scratch and is able
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  Speaker 2: to be used as efficiently and effectively as possible. So,
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  Speaker 2: for example, one of the one of the projects at
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  Speaker 2: Fungray Hospital is actually putting an integrated operations center in place. Currently,
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  Speaker 2: the operations center is spread across the hospit all bringing
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  Speaker 2: it together into one place means that that hospital can
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  Speaker 2: be operated more efficiently and effectively, So that's a good
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  Speaker 2: thing for the staff there and it's going to make
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  Speaker 2: a huge difference for patients as well. So yes, we
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  Speaker 2: have to do the major rebuilds, we also have to
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  Speaker 2: make sure we're using what we've currently got as efficiently
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  Speaker 2: and effectively as possible to deliver patients.
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  Speaker 1: And have these hospitals been able to decide what their
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  Speaker 1: priorities are where they need something to go.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, it's been that the projects have come through from
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  Speaker 2: the local hospital leadership up to as reallocated the money
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  Speaker 2: in the budget. There's been a process to hout to
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  Speaker 2: identify what those projects are and then we've been able
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  Speaker 2: to sign that off as ministers and now get onward delivering,
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  Speaker 2: which is the key priority from now.
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  Speaker 1: So will there be more money allocated for further upgrades
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  Speaker 1: in next year's budget, you know, because unfortunately maintenance and
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  Speaker 1: upgrades just keeps coming on.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, look, we can't obviously talk about next year's
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  Speaker 2: budget will be yet. We're still we're just starting those processes.
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  Speaker 2: But there's a lot of work underway at Health New
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  Speaker 2: Zealand looking at business cases for future hospital upgrades. We
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  Speaker 2: announced the Health Infrastructure Planned earlier in this year, I
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  Speaker 2: think was in April, which looked at the ten year
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  Speaker 2: view of what's needed to be delivered for health infrastructure
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  Speaker 2: across the country. A lot of major hospital rebuilds. The
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  Speaker 2: next three big priorities a total hospital, Hawkes Bay Hospital
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  Speaker 2: and Palmerston North Hospitals. So a lot of work going
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  Speaker 2: into the planning for major hospital rebuilds. But as I said,
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  Speaker 2: we also need to make sure we're using what we've
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  Speaker 2: currently got as efficiently and effectively as possible, so that
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  Speaker 2: patients and clinicians have modern, reliable infrastructure and get that
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  Speaker 2: care and a time and quality manner.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Minister. That was Health Minister Simeon Brown.
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  Speaker 2: For more from early edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live
• 3:44
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• 3:47
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