Policy

The Government should not be telling schools what sorts of foods they can or cannot make available to pupils – that is a decision that only each Boards of Trustees and parents should be making, ACT New Zealand Health Spokesman Heather Roy said today.

“Today there has been a lot of talk about the heavy-handed new national guidelines that the Government has imposed, telling schools what foods they can sell to pupils – but this is not a decision the Government should be making,” Mrs Roy said.

“This is especially true given the fact that many schools have already shown that they are playing their part in the battle against childhood obesity – many schools, having canvassed their parent communities, have already removed vending machines and limited the sale of such items as soft drinks and chocolate bars.

“Further, schools also understand that diet is just one factor contributing to obesity, and that exercise is the major factor in determining a child’s level of obesity and future risk of diabetes.

“It is for this reason that many schools are responsibly introducing increased exercise regimes and sporting options for their students – research has also shown that students concentrate much better when they’ve had adequate exercise.

“If the Government were truly serious about dealing with childhood obesity it would be putting its energies elsewhere – not imposing heavy-handed regulations on schools, which are already doing everything they can to address this issue,” Mrs Roy said.

ACT New Zealand Health Spokesman Heather Roy today labelled District Health Board elections a complete waste of time and money, and demanded to know what point there was in going through the rigmarole of electing officials who have absolutely no power.

“In response to my question in Parliament today, Prime Minister Helen Clark could not name a single thing that DHBs can do without first seeking the approval of Health Minister Pete Hodgson or the Ministry of Health,” Mrs Roy said.

“That’s because there IS nothing. At the end of the DHB elections, new and appointed members – under the mistaken belief that they will be representing their community – attend their first meeting and are told what their real job consists of: towing the Labour line and implementing Government policy.

“As such they are given no financial flexibility and no power to speak of – no autonomy to make any kind of decision to benefit their local community, lest they go against the wishes of their political masters.

“Everyone knows this to be true – those who didn’t until now have had it confirmed by the Prime Minister herself in Parliament today.

“With this being the case, why should we have to go through the rigmarole – not to mention expense – of having these phoney elections? The public is forced to pay for these hamstrung officials – the least the Government could do is stop making them pay for the elections as well.

“The fact is that the public pays for the illusion of regional responsibility in health when central control by Government is the reality. The fact is that, despite the best efforts of their well-intentioned members, everything that DHBs currently do could just as easily be done by a three-person committee,” Mrs Roy said.

ACT New Zealand Health Spokesman Heather Roy today questioned what value there was in being a member of District Health Boards New Zealand, given that this membership is costing DHBs around the country tens of thousands of dollars each year.

“These figures – the first released by DHB NZ since it became subject to the Official Information Act – show that being signed up to DHBNZ cost the country’s DHBs a total of $723,040 in the 2006/07 financial year alone,” Mrs Roy said.

“Broken down, this was tens of thousands of dollars paid by each individual DHB for that year – with Canterbury, Waitemata and Counties-Manukau DHBs each paying an astounding $89,280, $86,560 and $80,320 respectively.

“Given that $723,040 could fund a large number of surgical procedures – approximately 25 Coronary Bypasses, 47 Hip Replacements operations, or 241 cataract operations – this information raises serious questions about the sort of value there is to be gained in our DHBs being signed up to this national body.

“The question of value is even more pertinent in light of the fact that Auckland withdrew from the national body more than two years ago, and Canterbury DHB voted to follow suit in July 13 of this year – with Chair Syd Bradley having been reported in the media as believing that CDHB was not getting value for money and criticising DHBNZ as a ‘flawed and unaccountable’ entity.

“These comments, combined with the amount of Health dollars being poured into DHBNZ membership – enough money to provide grommets for a massive 628 children – are extremely worrying.

“Precious Health dollars should be spent on alleviating the pain and suffering of those waiting far too long on hospital waiting lists not on the extra layer of pointless and ineffectual bureaucracy that DHBNZ represents,” Mrs Roy said.

It is encouraging to learn from the Health Funds Association of New Zealand that 1.38 million Kiwis now save the public health system around $400 million a year by having health insurance – more Kiwis clearly realise that our over-stretched public health system cannot cater for all health needs, ACT New Zealand Health Spokesman Heather Roy said today.Read More