Ryall admits Health Budget will not meet increased costs

Tony Ryall has admitted that the 2011 Health Budget is more than $150 million short of keeping up with the growth in costs facing the health sector, says Labour’s Health Spokesperson Grant Robertson.

“In response to questioning in Parliament yesterday, Tony Ryall said that the Ministry of Health had advised him that $576 million of new spending was required to keep up with costs associated with demographic and population growth.

“However the Minister’s own statements show that the Budget only includes $420 million of new spending. That is a $156 million shortfall in funding that will lead to cuts in services or increased changes.

“The Minister has tried to claim that there was an “additional” $585 million for Health in this year’s Budget. The facts are that $165 million of that funding comes from cuts in other parts of the Health Budget.

“Mr Ryall should be honest with the New Zealand public that he has robbed Peter to pay Paul in this Budget instead of trying to spin the numbers.

“The $165 million worth of cuts come from areas such as public health services, the primary healthcare strategy, national mental health services and health workforce training.

“The Budget documents are vague as to where the money is coming from, but the reality is that they will be passed through in terms of a reduction in services. New Zealanders deserve to know exactly where these cuts are coming from.”