‘Zero’ target for health

Press, 6 September 1980, Page 24

‘Zero’ target for health

PA Wellington -‘ New Zealand can no longer -afford to maintain a 4.5 per cent per annum -real growth rate in , health services, according to the Minister of Health (Mr Gair). He told a news media seminar •on health topics that a “zero growth factor” was the best the Health Department could hope for. For some years health services had grown at a steady 4.5 per cent rate — which the country had needed and been able to afford.

Hospital boards had been in the habit of asking for more money and receiving it.: But with the declining

population growth rate and the economic situation, “this can’t be the situation today,” Mr Gair said.

Hospital boards could no longer expect to solve their problems “by merely adding fresh expenditure”. Nor could people expect doctors to “give them good health out of a bottle”. The time had come to “balance the health budget.” “But this should not represent a deterioration in the basic health services of the community.” Instead, health services “must constantly review the way in .which they commit their resources.”

“We have a need to look afresh at a number of the things we are doing,” Mr Gair said. This entailed the various elements of the health ser-i vices putting aside paro-j chialism. People’s expectations had to be related j to what they could be provided with. No longer should they expect to receive a prescription every time they visit the doctor.

For the most- part hospital boards “were learning to live within their budgets," “Generally speaking there has been commendable responsibility,” Mr Gair said. The constantly changing

i role of health in tne comjmunity and changes in population'trends had meant that jsome decisions made had : proved unwise. ; “If we could go back and jmake; decisions made 10 i years ago; knowing what we iknow now, we . would, not have made them,” he said. But the department must make decisions, “with the best possible view of what it’s like down the line.” Mr Gair assured the semi-! nar that the main concern of! the Health Department was still to “deliver health ser- - vices as efficiently as pos-i sible within the financialconstraints hnposed.” i