Reforms cautiously backed

Turning the health dial more towards keeping people well rather than treating them when they are sick has been generally welcomed in the Midcentral Health district.

Commentators are cautiously supporting the tenor of the health and disability review report released by Health Minister David Clark yesterday.

Recently retired Palmerston North GP John Drake said he had hoped the review would deal with the problem that not enough money was going into primary healthcare.

He said it was ‘‘very encouraging’’ the recommendations recognised looking after people before they were sick would get the best results.

He welcomed plans for better integration of community and hospital-level services, and better use of digital technology so people could see and share their own medical records.

It was good that the report recommended ring-fencing money that went to district health boards to be spent on primary or tier one health services. Drake said the first point of contact with the health system needed to be low cost and accessible, but that was not the case for many people.

‘‘The amount of funding is just not enough to employ enough doctors on reasonable salaries compared to the hospital system.’’

Pay and conditions for general practitioners and primary care nurses were way behind their hospital colleagues, he said.

Midcentral District Health Board chairman Brendan Duffy said he had not yet seen the report, but it did not come as a surprise that the recommendation was to reduce the number of boards and phase out elected members.

‘‘As a board, we need time to read and digest the detail.’’

Board chief executive Kathryn Cook said she would support changes that made the health system more sustainable and improved the health of people in the community.

She welcomed the emphasis on equity for Ma¯ori, on understanding and responding to the health needs of particular localities, and working closer with primary health providers. ‘‘I think it’s exciting. And we agree primary care is a critically important part of the system.’’

Former long-serving elected board member Barbara Robson was concerned about having no elected members. She said it was important boards had public meetings to ensure the reforms achieved the goal of letting communities have a real say. Campaigners for a new mental health unit at Palmerston North Hospital, Carey and Owen Hume, said elected members were pivotal to ensuring community concerns about mental health were heard. Their daughter Erica, 21, died in 2014 while a patient at Midcentral

Health. ‘‘We have a very big concern regarding the new build ... We are very worried that this will be put on hold as they take years to implement these proposed changes.’’

Elected Midcentral board member Karen Naylor is also a board employee, a situation the review recommends should not be allowed.

Naylor said she believed she had handled potential conflicts well between the two roles.

She said there would continue to be a need for some health leaders to have current experience in the health system.

‘‘I think it’s exciting. And we agree primary care is a critically important part of the system.’’ Board chief executive Kathryn Cook