Review of health scheme

Press, 2 June 1982, Page 2

Review of health scheme

PA Wellington The Government would comprehensively review the community health programme, said the Minister of Health (Mr Malcolm) yesterday. Mr .Malcolm said he had asked the Health Department to start the review “project by project” through established local' co-ordinating committees. Each committee would be asked to invite a general practitioner and a businessman to help them in the

review, “which is to be undertaken as quickly as possible.” Mr Malcolm told the Hospital Boards’ Association conference that he endorsed the concepts behind the community health programme. But he . said that the programme, stimulated by taxes on beer and tobacco, had developed extraordinarily rapidly, but better ways of spending the money might be found. ’. Under the community health project hospital boards administer funds for

a range of services including alcohol and drug-dependence centres, family health counselling, mental health services, public health nursing, rehabilitation services, and geriatric and domiciliary services. Mr Malcolm said the review should not be seen as a hint that the Government would give more money to the programme, nor as a step to implement any cost cuts, according to the 3 per cent cost-cutting exercise. “It stands in its own right,” he said.