Francesca Rudkin: The Government's providing Band-Aid solutions to healthcare

Yesterday Health Minister Simeon Brown announced $100 million has been allocated for hospital maintenance and refurbishment. It will fund 21 upgrades around the country.    The money was set aside in the 2025 budget – listed under things like ‘remediation’ and ‘redevelopment’ - but at the time Treasury didn’t say how much was allocated due to commercial sensitivities.    But it has been announced now, and if you were a cynical person you could think it was timed to distract us from the 48 hour strike - 5,500 ASMS members are undertaking this Tuesday and Wednesday – which will delay healthcare for almost 13-thousand patients.    This is a bit of an underwhelming announcement. The work the money is funding is not sexy. It’s the basic stuff which needs to happen to keep the lights on in some cases, and improve services in others.   Maternity Services are getting an upgrade at Ashburton Hospital.  The Lakes District Hospital is getting an ED expansion – which makes sense considering they are located in an adventure playground.  Whāngarei Hospital’s outpatient rooms are being upgraded so they can be used for minor procedures, freeing up capacity in the hospital's 8 large theatres.  Auckland City Hospital is getting an electricity fix to mitigate the risk of power failure – which sounds kinda vital. And Manukau Health Park is getting a new cancer infusions space.   So, you know, that kind of thing.    The question though is whether this is enough to achieve what the Minister keeps telling us he is focused on – providing New Zealanders with modern, resilient hospitals that can deliver timely, quality care?   Well, no. That’s a 10 year vision.   These small scale projects go some way to addressing issues in different areas of the country, and will hopefully make a difference for patients.  And these solutions have been achieved by working out how to make current facilities work better - it’s a good approach.   The opposition has, of course, said it’s not enough money ... but it never is.  No matter who is doing the budgeting, and who is in opposition, there’s never enough money. However, I do meet clinicians who tell me we can do better with the funding and facilities we already have.   Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall also said the funds are insufficient to meet the needs of a growing and ageing population”.  Few policy makers and politicians are prepared to deal with the long-term impacts of an aging population – much like how few want to really deal with the superannuation issue?    We’d all like there to be more money. We all want an equitable and sustainable health system.  We all want modern and resilient hospitals. However, considering the labour disputes and large hospital projects already on the government’s hands, the reality is this is likely as good as it’s going to get. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.