Elective Surgery Must Continue

Health Minister Bill English said today the public health service must continue to offer reasonable levels of elective surgery.

"There are a lot of New Zealanders, particularly older people, who will need surgery at some stage and who will never be able to afford it themselves.

"The public health service must be there to provide it. I am not prepared to see elective surgery levels cut back so far that people do not get surgery that they really need.

"I have talked for some time about my concerns that elective surgery is used as a financial safety valve in the public health service. What happens now is that once we have paid for the GP visits, for the pharmaceuticals, for the community workers, for the emergency work in our hositals, what is left over goes to elective surgery.

"This issue has been in the public arena for some time. We have had a lot of co-operation from doctors and nurses over the last 18 months putting in place an assessment system that will give us greater fairness and certainty.

"Within the health budget we have the job of ensuring there is sufficient funding to make sure there is a reasonable level of elective surgery available to New Zealanders," said Mr English.