Health Minister Tony Ryall says a proposal to introduce a two-tier system allowing private medical care in public hospitals is “worth a look.”
He should rule this insanity out right now. The idea that our hospitals have the capacity to deliver private health care on top of their current workload is so far removed from reality it’s staggering that Ryall would even countenance the idea.
Just this morning in my own electorate, Mid-Central DHB informed staff that it would be closing surgical beds due to a drop in acute surgery needs. I understand that when asked why the beds couldn’t be used to boost elective surgery numbers, management replied that surgeons were unavailable due to their private sector commitments.
If there isn’t the capacity to meet current needs, where will it come from to meet the additional requirements of fee-paying patients?
That aside, the point of having public hospitals is that everyone gets access to medical care based on need, not wealth. The kind of queue-jumping this would encourage is totally unacceptable.
Just where is Tony Ryall taking our health system?
