Pressured health system ‘coping’ – Little

New Zealand’s hospitals are under ‘‘very significant pressure’’, Health Minister Andrew Little has admitted, but he believes ‘‘the system as a whole is coping’’.

Little was speaking at the opening of a new methamphetamine harm-reduction programme in Murupara yesterday, just one day after a woman died after leaving Auckland’s Middlemore Hospital because of the long waiting time.

A Middlemore Hospital emergency doctor said the 51-year-old woman suffered a brain haemorrhage hours after arriving at the emergency department.

Her death could have been prevented if she was seen, the doctor said.

Little said the arrival of the flu season meant the healthcare system was always going to be under pressure, and he said issues around primary care needed to be addressed to help the hospital system, including additional GPs.

He said he could not discuss specific cases, but that the Labour Government ‘‘has invested in our health system to a level never seen before, $11 billion in this budget’’.

‘‘As the minister I look at the system as a whole. I know there are individual hospitals facing very, very serious pressures but, as a whole, the system is coping.’’

Little said the Te Ara Oranga methamphetamine harm-reduction programme represented ‘‘a whole new mental health system’’.

‘‘Demand for addiction treatment services has grown steadily over the past decade, and we need to do more to support people and communities struggling with drugs to get the wraparound support they need.

‘‘Te Ara Oranga is a unique partnership between police, mental health and addiction services, community groups, and iwi service providers. It gives methamphetamine users the opportunity to get culturally appropriate therapeutic help with an approach specially tailored for the local community,’’ he said.

‘‘It has been shown to reduce drug-related harm and support better community health, improved social wellbeing including reengagement with whānau and employment, and better justice outcomes including reduced family violence and crime.

‘‘Te Ara Oranga was successfully piloted in Northland and has been acknowledged as a game-changer in the fight against methamphetamine and drug-related crime.

‘‘More than 3000 Northland people and their whānau have now been helped since the programme was first started.

‘‘For every dollar spent on the programme there has been a return of between $3 and $7.

‘‘It’s an example of a communitywide and led programme that works and changes lives and we want more New Zealanders to benefit from it,’’ Little said.

The eastern Bay of Plenty region has been identified as a community experiencing a high level of drugrelated harm.

It has higher than average methamphetamine use/possession related offences, wastewater testing results, and proportion of people seeking help to get on top of drug addictions.

‘‘This government is committed to a health-based response for those who experience drug addiction. Making the benefits of Te Ara Oranga available in the eastern Bay of Plenty is part of that,’’ Little said.

In addition to services rolling out in Murupara, $3.5 million of funding from Budget 2022 will enable Te Ara Oranga to expand and cover a geographical area from Whakatā ne to Rotorua, and include Ō pō tiki, Kawerau, and Murupara.

Budget 2022 included a $100m investment for a specialist mental health and addiction package.

‘‘I know there are individual hospitals facing very, very serious pressures but, as a whole, the system is coping.’’

Andrew Little

Health Minister