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Health Minister Tony Ryall has today announced the Government is moving to fast track plans to rebuild Grey Base Hospital in Greymouth.

Mr Ryall says a special Hospital Redevelopment Partnership Group will be established to finalise and fast track the redevelopment plans by the end of April next year.

The Group brings the DHB, Ministry of Health and Treasury together in a collaborative approach that will save time and money. The standard large-scale building approval process can sometimes take years.

Health Minister Tony Ryall says general practices, supported by Primary Health Organisations (PHOs), are making good progress in the three national preventive health targets.

Over the past year general practices have:

More people with diabetes will soon find it easier to get the medication they need – by seeing a diabetes nurse specialist for their usual prescription, instead of the doctor.

Health Minister Tony Ryall announced during a visit to Southern DHB today that an additional 15 nurses across six DHBs will soon be able to write prescriptions for their patients with diabetes.

“This brings the total number of diabetes nurse specialists able to prescribe to 27 – and more specialist nurses are likely to start training next year,” Mr Ryall said.

Accessing health information in your region is now easier following the launch of new health web tool, My DHB, says Health Minister Tony Ryall.

“Public reporting on the performance of our health services is a key focus of this Government.

“New Zealanders can now access, in one place, health information specific to their district health board (DHB) region. This includes rest home audits, health funding and health target results.

A free whooping cough vaccine will be available to all pregnant women from 1 January 2013 to help protect their new-born babies from this serious disease.

“International research shows the most effective way to protect babies before they are immunised, is to vaccinate the mother during pregnancy so antibodies are passed on to the baby,” says Health Minister Tony Ryall.

There have been 6,700 notified cases of whooping cough since August last year – of which over 200 were babies under one year of age who required hospital treatment.

Finance Minister Bill English and State Owned Enterprises Minister Tony Ryall today welcomed the High Court decision in favour of the Crown following last month’s High Court action regarding the sale of shares in Mighty River Power.

“The High Court decision confirms the Government can proceed to sell up to 49 per cent of shares in four state owned energy companies, in accordance with the legislation passed by Parliament earlier this year,” Mr English says. 

There’s been a big increase in the number of children under six getting free doctors’ visits – the numbers are up 25 per cent on four years ago.

Health Minister Tony Ryall visited the Hillcrest Medical Centre in Hamilton today – one of the 965 general practices in the country providing free doctors’ visits to children under six during the daytime.

“We are committed to ensuring more young children get to see the doctor when they need to, and removing cost as a reason not to,” says Mr Ryall.

State Owned Enterprises Minister Tony Ryall today announced two new director appointments to Airways Corporation and three to Solid Energy New Zealand Ltd. As part of the same appointment process, one director was reappointed to the board of Mighty River Power.

Two new directors will join the Board of Airways from 1 January 2013; Dr Chris Moxon is an experienced executive in the information technology industry and Robin Gunston is an engineer.

Health Minister Tony Ryall today announced Dr Jan White has been appointed as a member of the Pharmaceutical Management Agency (PHARMAC) board.

“Dr White is a highly skilled director with wide-ranging health sector management experience,” said Mr Ryall.

“A medical doctor by training, Dr White has held a number of key health sector posts including six years as Chief Executive of the Waikato District Health Board and seven years as Chief Executive of the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC).”

Good morning.

It is a pleasure to be here to open your seminar on clinical governance and help you launch the report of the Clinical Governance Assessment Project.

The Project’s goal is to assess the progress New Zealand is making in improving clinical governance and leadership in our public health service….to see how we are doing in re-engaging frontline clinicians in the running of the public health service.

This is the largest research project of its kind in the history of the New Zealand public health service.

Thank you for inviting me here today to make this exciting announcement.

It is my pleasure to announce the New Zealand Blood Service, in partnership with Ngāi Tahu Property, is building a new blood donor and laboratory centre here in Christchurch.

The new centre, which is planned to open its doors in just over two years’ time, will be a purpose designed building that will house a donor centre, manufacturing and testing laboratories, specialised warehousing and support offices.

Health Minister Tony Ryall today announced the New Zealand Blood Service, in partnership with Ngāi Tahu Property, will build a new blood donor and laboratory centre in Christchurch.

“80 per cent of us will need blood treatment at some point in our lives. Thanks to the country’s 120,000 blood donors, New Zealand is proudly self-sufficient in blood and blood products,” says Mr Ryall.

“The new centre will help ensure New Zealanders receive the blood treatments they need – even as demand continues to increase.

Patients who need to travel outside their region for specialist health services or frequently to appointments are receiving more support than ever before.

Health Minister Tony Ryall said this government is committed to improving access to health services for New Zealanders.

“Last financial year, $38 million in travel and accommodation assistance was provided to over 33,000 patients – 40 per cent more funding than in 2008.

Good morning. It is a pleasure to be here today.

I would like to thank the team at Malyon House in particular David and Cecily Munro for inviting me here to officially open the recently rebuilt Malyon House facility.

It is an exciting time for everyone, not only has the facility undergone a major upgrade it has also been extended to provide additional beds and now offers both rest home and hospital level care.

The National-led Government is making it easier for disabled and older New Zealanders to live independently at home longer by increasing home and community support services.

Health Minister Tony Ryall says 14.4 million hours of home and community support were provided to disabled and older New Zealanders last financial year – 2.5 million more hours than four years ago.

“These extra support hours are used to help people with activities such as showering, dressing, and preparing a meal,” says Mr Ryall.

General practice and district health boards are well on track to achieve the Government’s Better Public Services immunisation target, says Health Minister Tony Ryall. 

“Our goal is 95 per cent of babies fully immunised by the time they’re eight months old, by December 2014, and that coverage rate maintained until at least 2017,” Mr Ryall says.

The latest national health target results, released today, show district health boards (DHBs) have made great progress on the new increased immunisation and shorter waits for cancer treatment targets.

“This is the first time chemotherapy wait times have been included in the cancer target,” says Health Minister Tony Ryall.

“All DHBs have achieved the new target with every patient receiving their radiotherapy and chemotherapy cancer treatment within the four week international gold standard.

The National Government has approved a new $25 million inpatient mental health unit at North Shore Hospital.

“The new mental health unit will be welcomed by the community and the new facility will provide better services for patients and their families,” says Health Minister Tony Ryall.

“The current Taharoto unit is an old maternity hospital and is no longer fit for purpose. There are a number of issues with the building including a lack of space, poor layout, and no ability to properly segregate male and female patients.

Health Minister Tony Ryall has announced $1.8 million is being invested over two years for the national roll out of a programme to improve endoscopy services.

Endoscopy services include colonoscopies and gastroscopies and are used to diagnose conditions such as bowel cancer and stomach ulcers.

“The endoscopy quality improvement programme aims to ensure all New Zealanders receive the same high standard endoscopy care, no matter where they live in the country,” says Mr Ryall.

Health Minister Tony Ryall heads for Washington DC and New York tomorrow.

Health Minister Tony Ryall is pleased to announce Dr Jo Scott-Jones, a GP from Opotiki and chair of the rural GP network, has won this year’s Clinicians’ Challenge with his entry to improve the delivery of health care in a rural environment.

“The Clinicians’ Challenge brings health professionals and IT vendors together to identify and solve issues health professionals face in their day-to-day practice,” says Mr Ryall.

State Owned Enterprises Minister Tony Ryall today announced four new appointments and 13 reappointments across seven SOEs and two airport companies.

“We are introducing highly skilled directors into the portfolio, as well as providing continuity of existing expertise” said Mr Ryall.

Rt Hon Dame Jenny Shipley has been reappointed as the Chair of Genesis Power Ltd, and Simon Allen as Chair of Crown Fibre Holdings Ltd. 

The Natural Health Products Bill has been reported back to Parliament with the support of all parties on the Health Select Committee.

Health Minister Tony Ryall is pleased with progress on the bill, which will provide regulation of commercial natural health products, such as vitamin supplements, Echinacea and fish oil.

Welcome

Good morning and thank you for inviting me to open your 65th annual scientific meeting.

Since your first meeting when Mabel Howard was Minister of Health, there have been another 24 ministers serving on average two and a half years each.

During that time your specialty has changed a lot too… with new ways of treating and caring for patients: Smarter technology, smarter techniques and smarter use of the wider healthcare team. Even your specialty name has changed.