Health system criticism backed

Press, 25 July 1986, Page 4

Health system criticism backed

PA Wellington Criticism of the health system made yesterday by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Mr Tapsell, drew support from general practitioners. "We feel Mr Tapsell is now saying many of the things that we started saying at least six years ago,” said the chairman of the General Practitioners’ Society, Dr Roger RidleySmith, said yesterday. Mr Tapsell, emphasising that his comments were a personal view only, said yesterday the health system was inequitable and skewed in favour of hospital rather than community health care. “We spend about 70 per cent of our total health budget on hospitals and 30 per cent on community care and in my view we need to change that,” he said.

When hospital care was

made free the whole health service became skewed this way.

“At the moment. there are far more people in New Zealand hospitals than is desirable .iionce people get into the hospital system, it is very difficult to get out of it” Hospitals, he said, should be small, well equipped and staffed. Mr Tapsell said he spoke from 30 years experience as a doctor and surgeon.

The Minister of Health, Dr Bassett, declined to comment on the points made by Mr Tapsell. “We are not surprised at this,” Dr Ridley-Smith said. “Most of what Mr Tapsell is saying appears to run dead opposite to what Dr Bassett thinks. “It would have been far better if Dr Bassett had made the comments,” he said.