A young Palmerston North man died of melanoma this month because he couldn’t afford to go to his GP. Worried about a mole that changed colour, Kurt Seddon instead belatedly went to his Hospital’s Emergency Department where the cancer was not diagnosed.

When Kurt's health worsened, he went back to hospital in March last year, when a biopsy confirmed he had stage four melanoma.

Kurt and his partner later challenged the District Health Board about the diagnosis and were told that he should have persisted and gone to his GP.

However the problem is that there are many New Zealanders who are in Kurt’s position and simply can’t afford the doctor’s fees on a tight budget. Kurt and his partner were both cleaners and on a low wage.

In my own brush with prostate cancer eight years ago, I was thankful that I could afford to have a regular check-up with my GP who insisted on a series of PSA tests that detected a cancer. In my case the radioactive seed treatment gave me a clean bill of health.

Kurt’s death underlines a growing problem called unmet need in the health system. Because the Government has created a $1.7 billion funding hole in health Kiwis can’t afford to see their doctors and start to go down the path to getting necessary surgery.

A recent study published in the New Zealand Medical Journal shows that one in six Kiwis now can’t afford to see their GP Underfunding by the Government has meant that the GP fee has increased on average from $29.11 in 2008 to $40.71 a visit last year. Some people are paying up to $70 a visit. According to the Ministry of Health, the number of high needs patients who are not enrolled at one of New Zealand low cost practices which is capped at $18 a visit is now up to 473,000.

Kurt and his partner rightly had little faith in the health system, believing his cancer should have been picked up earlier.

His case underlines the fact that the health system is crumbling while the Government is worried about a series of artificial health targets.

Labour’s promise is to restore that $1.7 billion of lost health funding, make GP’s visits more accessible and make sure all Kiwis get the care they need and deserve.

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