What is the right health debate this election?

Main points:

• In this election campaign, Health should not be a spending contest
• This should not be a public v private debate
• This should be a debate about the sustainable delivery of quality healthcare

The association which represents private surgical hospitals and clinics across the country says New Zealand doesn’t need to spend more on health; it needs to spend smarter.

New Zealand Private Surgical Hospitals Association has issued an Election Manifesto calling for a sensible debate on healthcare and dispelling some of the myths about private provision of care.

NZPSHA Chief Executive Chris Roberts says New Zealand has always had a mixed model of public and private delivery of health services.

“The public health system needs to be well resourced, but it has never and will never provide all the answers. Primary care is mostly delivered by the private sector. So are testing and diagnostic services.  ACC treatment is primarily carried out by private providers and the scheme would not function without them. The needs of many older New Zealanders are met by private facilities and agencies. And private hospitals are extremely efficient providers of planned care.”

Mr Roberts says New Zealand can’t afford to just keep spending more and more on health – that would bankrupt us within a few decades.

“New Zealanders deserve access to the right health treatments and the scarce health dollars need to go where they have the biggest impact on giving Kiwis healthier lives.”

NZPSHA members are providing two thirds of all the elective surgery performed in New Zealand – almost a quarter of a million procedures a year. In the past 12 months, almost 47,000 of these treated patients came off public waiting lists.

”Private hospitals and clinics do not manage emergency cases meaning that care can be planned without disruption. In contrast, someone waiting for elective surgery at a public hospital may wait for a year or more, and have their procedure delayed (sometimes several times) as the hospital correctly prioritises acute and emergency services. The person’s condition, pain and distress are exacerbated by the delay, they may not be able to work and, along with their family, can face considerable personal hardship.

“Utilising the capacity of the private sector is a timely, cost-effective and patient-focused solution. Every patient treated in a private hospital frees up critical resources for another patient to be seen in the public system.”

Mr Roberts says private hospitals in Aotearoa are not American-style islands of privilege. They are national assets, health sector partners, and essential service providers.

“Private hospitals are not just for the insured or self-funding patient, and they are much more than a ‘back-stop’ for public hospitals when they get overwhelmed.

“Ideology cannot be allowed to get in the way. The patient must be put first and the best outcomes for the patient must be the priority.”

Mr Roberts says public surgery waiting lists are starting to reduce through targeted use of outsourcing, but more can be done. Sensible funding arrangements also need to be maintained with ACC and insurance companies.

“Longer-term funding and structural arrangements will provide much needed certainty, while whole-of-sector collaboration will deliver better results for patients, the health system, funders and the taxpayer.”

The future role of private hospitals in New Zealand’s healthcare system will be discussed and debated at NZPSHA’s annual conference, taking place at the Cordis Hotel in Auckland from 23-25 September.