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There have been a number of reported cases of meningitis throughout the country and Associate Health Minister, Tariana Turia, is encouraging families, especially those with babies, young children and teenagers, to be especially vigilant.

“It’s important that if you think you or someone else you are close to may be at risk, don’t wait, take action! Ring a doctor or medical centre straight away or even the hospital if you have too. Meningitis is serious if left untreated” Mrs Turia said.

The near 40-year-old Misuse of Drugs Act will be overhauled and replaced and legislation developed to create a new regime for currently unregulated psychoactive substances, Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne said today in delivering the Government’s official response to the Law Commission’s report on the Act.

The Law Commission report, Controlling and Regulating Drugs: a Review of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975, was delivered in May and the Government has since been considering its findings and recommendations.

The Government has approved $15 million for Canterbury District Health Board to relocate Christchurch Hospital's outpatients unit and the Acute Medical Assessment Unit.

Health Minister Tony Ryall said, "We have fast-tracked the approval for this work so that the facilities will be ready in time for the 2012 winter peak in demand.

"The DHB's earthquake recovery plan has identified a need to increase short to medium term medical bed capacity, and to pull most of the General Medicine services back on to one site.

Legislation to ensure consumers can have confidence in the quality of natural health products is being tabled in Parliament today, says Associate Health Minister Jonathan Coleman.

The Natural Health Products Bill is one of the shared policy initiatives agreed to by the National and Green Parties under a Memorandum of Understanding.
Dr Coleman says the Bill provides New Zealanders with assurances that the products they buy are safe and true to claim.

School children at six Flaxmere schools will continue to have their throats swabbed whenever they get a sore throat as part of an extra $12 million of government funding to combat rheumatic fever.

The Hawkes Bay 'Say Ahh' programme is the first of eight newly funded services around the country which detect and prevent rheumatic fever.

Good morning. I am pleased to be here with you today to open this year’s Suicide Prevention Information New Zealand (SPINZ) Conference.

I would like to thank SPINZ, the Mental Health Foundation and Te Rau Matatini for jointly organising and promoting the conference.

I would also like to acknowledge and thank the speakers and attendees here today.

Looking around the audience I can see a fantastic turnout.

The Government has today released its response to the Health Select Committee's Inquiry into improving New Zealand’s environment to support innovation through clinical trials.

Health Minister Tony Ryall says "The inquiry found the approvals process is robust but it can take months, sometimes years.

"Applicants need electronic filing, they want much tougher time limits and they need the ethics committees working in a more effective way."

A record 145,414 patients received elective surgery in the year ended July 2011 says Health Minister Tony Ryall.

Elective surgery operations include hip and other joint operations, cataracts and grommets amongst other important life improving surgeries.

“This means an extraordinary extra 27,000 patients a year are now benefiting from elective surgery compared with the numbers treated under the previous Government”, Mr Ryall says.

Health professionals will soon have access to an up-to-date, comprehensive and New Zealand-specific medicines information resource, Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne announced today.

“Whether prescribing, dispensing or administering a medicine, the New Zealand Medicines Formulary (NZMF) will be the first reference resource for health professionals wanting information on those medicines,” Mr Dunne said.

“It will be a true one-stop-shop covering clinical information as well classification and subsidy status,” he said.

It is a great pleasure to be in the company of a group of people dedicated to improving Maori health.

And it is both a credit to this organisation, and the initiatives you have pioneered, that I am told there are now over 250 Maori students and medical practitioners currently registered with Te Ora.

That’s 250 guardians to advance outcomes for whanau, hapu and iwi!

It also means we have 250 champions to pursue article 24 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People: that is,

Health Minister Tony Ryall is today launching a new electronic health record which will give doctors instant access to the medical history of new patients.

Speaking to doctors at the Royal New Zealand College of GPs joint conference with General Practice New Zealand, Mr Ryall says, "The new GP2GP system will allow patients' GP records to be transferred electronically rather than faxed or posted in paper copy.

Health Minister Tony Ryall and Education Minister Anne Tolley have launched a partnership with the Universities of Auckland and Otago that will train more doctors and nurses and other health professionals at Gisborne and Whakatane Hospitals.

The partnership is part of a new $4.5 million programme to train health students in rural areas so that they will return to work in rural communities.

Health Minister Tony Ryall and Education Minister Anne Tolley have launched a partnership with the University of Auckland that will train more doctors and nurses and other health professionals at Whakatane Hospital.

The partnership is part of a new $4.5 million programme to train health students in rural areas so that they will return to work in rural communities.

Health Minister Tony Ryall today opened a new dialysis unit at Whakatane Hospital giving patients better access to this life sustaining treatment closer to home.

Mr Ryall said, 'This is part of the government's drive to have more health services delivered closer to patients, who will no longer have to travel to Tauranga up to three times a week.

The new six-station satellite renal unit will provide for between 6 and 12 patients per week, but has the ability to grow to meet the needs of up to 24 patients per week.

Good morning and thank you for inviting me to address the Centre of Performance Measurement and Management’s inaugural event. It’s good to see you and the Centre for Health Systems jointly looking at improving health system performance. I look forward to hearing the outcomes of having the ‘bean counters’ and the ‘improvers’ in the same room.

The national health target results for the final quarter of the 2010/11 year show record numbers of kiwi patients accessing elective surgery, among other improvements in key areas of the public health service.

Health Minister Tony Ryall released the quarterly results today and says, "DHBs delivered more than 145,000 elective surgery discharges in the last financial year, that's 26,000 more than only three years ago.

Good morning and firstly, welcome to Dr Tom McLellan, from the United States, and other distinguished visitors, and contributors to this symposium.

I would like to begin by congratulating the New Zealand Drug Foundation for organising this important event.

As a Member of Parliament, and also as a Minister, I get to meet all sorts of people. 

Often in the course of my electorate work I come across individuals and families whose lives have been directly affected by alcohol and drugs.

The Government has announced an $11 million partnership with the country's rest homes to further improve rest home care.

Health Minister Tony Ryall said new technology will be rolled out across rest homes to support regular, uniform, comprehensive clinical assessments of all residents.

From the moment they first move into a rest home, every resident will be assessed across 22 key aspects of their health. And this comprehensive assessment will be repeated at least every six months.

Good afternoon.  It is a pleasure to be here to address the New Zealand Aged Care Association conference and I would like to thank the Association for its invitation to speak to you.

Today I would like to thank you for all you’ve done following the Canterbury earthquakes, clinical integration and the launch of comprehensive clinical assessments for all residents.

Christchurch

Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne today said he was disappointed the suicide rate had not fallen and this again highlighted the need to be continually looking for better ways to address the issue.

“In particular, our rates for young people and Maori remain high and we need keep focused on these groups in particular,” Mr Dunne said.

He said a key next step will be updating the Suicide Prevention Action Plan and the evidence base that underpins it during the next year.

Health Minister Tony Ryall has announced appointments and a reappointment to health sector boards.

Mr Ian Ward has been appointed as a member of the New Zealand Blood Service Board, replacing Mrs Anne Urlwin, who recently completed two terms on the board.

Professor Ann Richardson has been appointed to the board of the Health Research Council, and Professor Linda Smith has been reappointed.

Professor Richardson is replacing Professor Richie Poulton, who has served two terms on the board.

Parliamentary Colleagues
Dr Virginia Hope – Chair of Hutt Valley DHB
Keriata Stuart, Chair of the Maori Partnership Board
Graham Dyer, CEO
Peter Glensor, former Chair, current Board member
Staff and ladies and Gentlemen

Thank you for inviting me here to celebrate this important development for the people of the Hutt Valley.

What we are celebrating this morning is:

Health Minister Tony Ryall says over 100,000 four year olds have now had a B4 School health check, and he is hearing reports of life-changing outcomes for children and their families.

“The B4 School Check is really an opportunity for a stock take – to see exactly where a child is at, physically, emotionally and socially.

“Children are having eyesight problems identified and are seeing clearly for the first time. Others are being helped to hear better, or to work through behavioural issues.”

Health Minister Tony Ryall says the old Napier Hospital site, on the market since 2006, has finally been sold. The proceeds will help Hawke's Bay District Health Board build a new mental health unit for the people of Hawke's Bay.

Mr Ryall says Todd Property Group has bought the hospital site for an undisclosed sum. In a related transaction TPG has sold land at Ngunguru Spit in Northland to the Department of Conservation and is using the proceeds of that sale to purchase the Napier Hospital site.