Waimarino wants local health services

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 9, Issue 411, 5 November 1991, Page 1

Waimarino wants local health services

Views of the Waimarino Community Health Watch Committee on the health system reforms were largely accepted at a public meeting last Wednesday night. About 70 people attended the meeting at^ the Raetihi School Hall, where the Committee outlined its views on which health services should be funded by the

Govemment in the Waimarino. The meeting decided that services now available locally had to be retained. The meeting decided that a positive list, ie., a list of those services that should be f Government funded, should be submitted to the government, but no 'negative list' be prepared. "You can be sure if we place a service on

the negative list, we won't get it," said Mayor Garrick Workman. Area Health Board representative Margot Mains said the deadline of 7 January was for communities to decide how to prioritise core health services. She said the work done by communities to look at core services was not wasted but would be looked at during Turnpage2

Local health services

Froin page 1 1992. Despite this information, the meeting concentrated on looking at the core services and funding. The meeting looked at what the area has and what it needs, taking into account the rural nature of the area and its geographical nature and isolation. The meeting generally agreed that services that should be made available locally were: maternity care (ante-natal, delivery and post-natal); long term care available for the elderly (not available locally at present); intermittent care for long term patients; relative relief care (where a patient is cared for at the Waimarino Health Care Centre so that the family can have a break). X-ray services should be available here, most felt, for convenience as well as economic reasons. The meeting heard that at present patients are transferred by ambulance to Wanganui for x-rays which was not on^y very expensive (estimated at $600 roiihd-trip) but left the area without an ambulance for emergency use for up to six hours at a time. A nurse present said it was very expensive for patients and their families to travel to a

large centre for treatment and that it would be much more cost-effective for all if they could be treated locally. "It is very important the x-ray service here is upgraded," summed up one person. Public health nurse Helen Fahey said there was little need for services to handle acute care patients as they were almost always transferred out of the area once stabilized. "Accessibility to a service, and affordibility, if it is not available locally is the next step," said Nurse Fahey. Very important was health education and promotion, the meeting agreed. If people were encouraged to take responsibility for their own health and thus avoid health problems, huge savings would be made, said naturopath Errol Vincent. "I'd like to see an emphasis on maintaining wellness - it's the best way to save money," said Mr Vincent. Dr Perera said one person could let the whole system down through their own negligence and cost the community a lot of money. Options for funding New Zealand's health care system were put forward: 1/ Compulsory health insurance, or health premiums. 2/ Direct funding through GST. 3/ Promoting better, healthier lifestyles.

4/ Directing monies raised through duties (eg., tobacco, alcohol) to vote health. 5/ Placing a greater emphasis on promoting preventative health education. Mr Vincent supported options 1,3 & 5, saying they would encourage less dependence on health care, with people taking more responsibility for looking after themselves. "The other options are just throwing more money at the problem," he said. Others felt targeting a component of GST was favourable, as everybody paid GST so all would contribute to their health care. This was acceptable as long as GST was not increased, most felt. Increased general taxation was also only favoured if it could be tagged for health care, and not go into the consolidated fund. Other points covered at the meeting included: Ruapehu is the only district in the country to be divided across Regional Health Authority boundaries; people should be able to cross the boundary for services; community health services need to be constantly redefined due to changing population age, technology and the economy; should the community take part in decisions on core services (who has been making such decisions until now and have they been right?)