South Canterbury consultation must give full story

new-zealand-labour-party

Thu Feb 04 2010 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)

South Canterbury consultation must give full story

Thursday, 4 February 2010, 2:51 pm
Press Release: New Zealand Labour Party

**South Canterbury GP consultation must give public the full story
**

Proposed changes between the South Canterbury DHB and primary care providers need cautious consideration, says Labour Health spokesperson Ruth Dyson.

“Consultation is currently underway in South Canterbury that would see GP services integrate with the DHB. Those proposals have some positives such as the recognition of clinical pathways from primary practice through to hospital care,” Ruth Dyson said.

“However, there are other issues that need to be thoroughly investigated including whether this proposal is an attempt to fast track the National Government’s plan to move hospital based services to primary care.

“I note in the press release today that the South Canterbury District Health Board has in fact parroted lines straight from the National Party manifesto – something that seems completely inappropriate for a supposedly independent consultation process.

“Yesterday the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists and the Independent Practitioner Associations Council joined forces to voice their growing concerns about Government plans to move some hospital services into general practice.

“I believe the public should be fully informed about the full implications that could result from this proposal.

“I would not want to see previously free hospital services suddenly be moved into primary care where people would have to pay for them. Nor would I want to see health promotion and prevention activities scaled back because there would be no PHO charged with driving these initiatives.

“General Practices have not traditionally driven community based health promotion activities which is why Primary Healthcare Organisations are so important.

“I will be watching this consultation process extremely closely to ensure the public are given every opportunity to have their say on this proposal,” Ruth Dyson said.

ENDS

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