GST for health supported

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 9, Issue 420, 21 January 1992, Page 1

GST for health supported

Health services for the Waimarino should be part of a larger Crown health enterprise which would encompass the present Manawatu Wanganui Area Health Board.

This view was outlined in a submission to Health Minister Simon Upton by the Waimarino Health Watch Committee in conjunction with Ruapehu Mayor Garrick Workman, which was completed for the deadline early this month. "The retention of a locally based health service as provided by the Rural Health Centre is the focus of our future needs, but we also see the need to retain the

right of access to our other services from the greater region of the present Manawatu - Wanganui Area Health Board and the Taumarunui Hospital," stated the submission. It would be cost effective in some cases for people to cross the health boundaries, to travel north for services, said the committee. Targetted GST The committee felt the best funding system for

the health budget is to target a percentage of GST for health, to boost present taxation commitments. "The GST option was chosen as the system is already established and therefore more cost effective. It is also a system to which all New Zealanders and visitors contribute. In the submission the Waimarino is described as "a geographically remote region, poorly accessed by public transport" with extremes of climate and terrain. "We have an increasing number of elderly citizens, 1/3 of our pop-

ulation is of Maori descent, also the seasonal influx of tourism generated by the national parks including skiing, tramping, hunting and fishing changes the needs of the district over the year," stated the submission. Healthy community The group's aim in presenting the submissions was "to ensure a healthy community influenced by lifestyles that promote health and general well being." The Core Health Debate, to ensure this, should include the major

objectives of "universal access, value for money, quality of appropriateness, clear responsibility". "Our choice of a priority rank positive list of Core Services which can be varied according to changes in health status and technology, is influenced by all the factors discussed previously in this document," Essential The priority rank positive list (those aspects that are seen by the committee as essential for government funding) include: maternity and obstetric, neonatal care, Turnpage3

Waimarino health submission

From page 1 prevention, acute medical (diabetes, asthma, heart disease, surgical, orthopaedic, cancer), cervical screening, miscarriage care, burns, sexually transmitted diseases, fractures, acute back problems, paediatric (acute, abuse, immunity, congenital, glue ear, tonsils, ear nose and throat, diabetes, asthma), contraception (access to services, education), general surgery, acute eye problems, diagnostic laboratory, counselling (drug and alcohol abuse) accessibility (GP, spccialists, X-rays), education - prevention, transport, geriatric care (assessment). Services that the group feels should be retained in the Waimarino include: health education and promotion, general practitioners and their practice nurses, chemists, dentists and dental therapists, nursing services - Plunket, hospital and community

support volunteers, home care, ambulance, physiotherapist, treatment and assessment area, hospital and other social worker. Affordable access Also, affordable access to the following should be available: paediatric care, secondary care services, staff education, radiology and scan, laboratory and diagnostics, cervical screening. Included in the submission document were submissions from the manager of the Waimarino Rural Health Centre, Margaret Martin; from the Waimarino, Waiouru and Taihape midwives; and from the public health nursing services. In her submission Miss Martin said the staff at the centre were aware of the growing needs of the elderly. She said they were establishing a day care centre within the WRHC. This was while

they were maintaining their budget to within acceptable limits. She said other valuable services included home care and district nursing, public health, Maori health, hospital and maternity care, and the air and road ambulance services. "To keep our families well, we need to maintain optimum health of the care-givers and to provide education to enable them to promote 'self health' within their families," subniitted the midwives. Services they especially sought to retain in the area included: delivery of normal births within health centres; affordable access to specialist services; cervical screening and other promotions of well health and self awareness of women 's health issues; some ante-natal & post-natal beds, basic neonatal cares, community care, services must

be appropriate for local groups (Maori, adolescent, older mothers), affordable access to all forms of secondary health care for women. The public health nurses provide an essential service which is vital in this remote area, submitted the public health nursing service. Services (to be retained) should include health advice, family health, intensive care for at-risk families, school health, occupational health, disease prevention and control, special projects (women's health, antismoking, STD service) community development, community link in rural areas. "A public health nursing service is vital in providing accessible health care to all, reducing health care costs to all, improving the overall standard of health by providing health education and health care," submitted the public health nursing service.