21 October 2009
Health changes a mixed bag

The Green Party expressed relief today that the worst aspects of the Horn report seem to have been avoided.

“The wide scale structural changes recommended by the Horn report seem to have been avoided. Hopefully, this will mean the health system will not return to the destructive days of perpetual restructuring,” Green Party Health Spokesperson Kevin Hague said today.

It is good to see that the Minister has come around to the Green Party policy of pushing for greater collaboration between District Health Boards, said Mr Hague.

“The worry with this announcement today is that it leaves a lot of unanswered questions – for example around contracting out of services and quality control. The danger is that the worst is still to come.

“The other area that the Minister is still ignoring is the vital role that public health initiatives can play in reducing ill-health and its associated costs.

“The Minister has confirmed that millions of dollars from pubic health has been slashed, with no evidence that they weren’t working. This simply isn’t good enough” said Mr Hague.

ENDS

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