Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Ryan Bridge: We're not addressing the core issues of our health system

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Ryan Bridge: We're not addressing the core issues of our health system · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Health is one of those areas where you can really
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: churn through and burn through the cash. It's expensive for
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: us to visit a GP, but it's also expensive to
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: fund the thing. The amount that taxpayers spend on health,
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: it's gone up 100% over the past decade. So back
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: in 2016, I know, can you believe that was a
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: decade ago? $ 15 billion is what we spent. It's now
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: up over $ 30, well over $ 30 billion. The population has
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: not increased by that much. It's only gone up roughly 15%.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: But there are always better medicines to buy. There are
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: always unions to settle pay negotiations with. There's always new
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: equipment that you can buy. There are always hospitals to replace.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: It's a money pit, basically. Every election, we get the
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: same message, which is basically, let's put more money in
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: the pit. And both Labour and National are saying they
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: will do this this year and this election. Hell, even
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: the ACT Party is saying that. But are we missing
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: a trick by always focusing on money in and patients out?
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: Diabetes and obesity are massive problems, no pun intended, for
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: the health system. And every doctor that you speak to
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: will tell you this. It's just the truth. As is ageing,
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: though we can't do much about that. But where is
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: the focus in this campaign outside of New Zealand First's policy,
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: which they may or may not have copied? On the
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: food pyramid and keeping ourselves healthy and fit, you are
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: what you eat is not just an old saying, it's science.
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: And to his credit, JFK Jr. in the US has
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: been pushing this message, why aren't we? If we want
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: to keep the status quo and continue funding an ambulance
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: at the bottom of the cliff, then we are going
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: the right way about it.