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Francesca Rudkin: The Government's providing Band-Aid solutions to healthcare · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: So yesterday Health Minister Simeon Brown announced one hundred million
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: has been allocated for hospital maintenance and refurbishment. It will
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: fund twenty one upgrades around the country. The money was
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: set aside in the twenty twenty five budget, listed under
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: things like remediation redevelopment, but at the time Treasury didn't
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: say how much had been allocated due to commercial sensibilities.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: But it has been announced now and if you're a
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: cynical person, you could think it was time to distract
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: us from the forty eight hour strike five thy five
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: hundred ASEMES members are undertaking this Tuesday and Wednesday, which
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: will delay healthcare for almost thirteen thousand patients. But it's
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: been announced. It's a little bit of an underwhelming announcement
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: because the work the money is funding, it's not sexy.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: It's the basic stuff which needs to happen to keep
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: the lights on in some cases and improve services in others.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: Maternity services are getting an upgrade at Ashburton Hospital. The
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: Lake's District hospital is getting an ed expansion, which kind
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: of makes sense considering they're located in an adventure playground.
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: FUNGEDAI hospitals outpatients rooms have been upgraded so they can
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: be used for minor procedures. Is freeing up capacity in
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: the hospitals. Eight large theaters makes sense. Auckland City Hospital
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: is getting an electricity fixed to mitigate the risk of
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: power failure, which sounds kind of vital. And Manico Health
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: Plant Park is getting a new cancer infusion space, so
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: you know that kind of thing. The question, though, is
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: whether this is enough to achieve what the Minister keeps
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: telling us he's focused on providing New Zealanders with modern,
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: resilient hospitals that can deliver timely, quality care. Well, no,
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: because that's a ten year vision. These small scale projects
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: go some way though, to addressing issues in different areas
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: of the country and will hopefully make a difference for patients.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: And these solutions have been achieved by working out how
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: to make current facilities work better, which is a good approach.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: The opposition has a course set it's not enough money,
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: but it never is, no matter who was doing the
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: budgeting and who is in opposition. There's never enough money. However,
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: I do meet clinicians who tell me quite often we
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: can do better with the funding and facilities we all
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: already have. Labor, health spokesperson the Aisha Veryl says the
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: funds are insignificant, insufficient, I should say, to meet the
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: needs of a growing and aging population. Well, few policymakers
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: and politicians are prepared to deal with the long term
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: impacts of an aging population, much like how few want
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: to really deal with the superannuation issue. We're all like
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: there to be more money. We all want an equitable
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: and sustainable house system. We all want modern and resilient hospitals.
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: How we are considering the labor disputes and the large
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: hospital projects already on the government's hand. The reality is
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: this is as likely as good as it's going to get.
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge. Listen live
• 2:44
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• 2:47
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