Disappointment over health funding
Patients and healthcare workers say they have been left frustrated and disappointed by ‘‘inadequate’’ funding for health in the 2017 Budget.
They say the Government’s announcements will not go nearly far enough in addressing concerns about overworked staff, access to new medicines, and access to mental health treatment.
The Government said total health spending would be a record $16.77 billion in 2017-18 - an increase of $879 million, with an overall increase of $3.9b over the next four years.
However, the record claim does not take inflation into account, and sidesteps the fact that almost half the spending will go toward mandated wage increases.
The government committed $224m in funding for mental health. Mental Health Foundation spokesperson Sophia Graham welcomed the announcement as a ‘‘really positive step in the right direction’’. However, ‘‘we need to see a commitment to sustained increases in funding,’’ she said.
Mental health workers and union representatives said the funding was only a fraction of what was needed to adequately respond to demand.
The Budget allowed for wage increases for 55,000 care and disability support workers as part of the recent pay equity settlement. That will cost $1.54b - nearly half of the $3.9b spending increase scheduled for the next four years.
Jane Macgeorge, acting CEO for the NZ Nurses Organisation, said the Budget was a huge disappointment for nurses who already faced declining morale and job satisfaction.
Vote Health also budgeted an extra $60m over the next four years for Pharmac, the government body responsible for funding medicines. However, it won’t go far towards clearing a backlog of more than 90 drugs that have been recommended but are yet to receive funding. One recent study ranked New Zealand 20th out of 20 OECD countries in terms of accessing new medicines.