New Zealand's health service faces major financial and demographic challenges, but the National-led Government has lifted health spending by about $2 billion over its four years, Minister of Health Tony Ryall says.
Mr Ryall's speech was delivered by Dr Paul Hutchison at the opening of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons annual conference in Queenstown last week.
"A Life of Learning" was the theme of the two-day conference in the Millennium Hotel, with content focusing on learning throughout a surgical career.
More than 80 transtasman delegates attended, including 68 surgeons from throughout New Zealand.
The minister urged clinicians to care about making the health dollar go further because they had a responsibility to the population of potential patients, not just the patient in front of them.
Mr Ryall said the Government owed $8 billion only four years ago, but taking the sharp edges off the recession had seen the debt grow to $55 billion today.
The Government expected the debt would peak at $72 billion in three years' time.
"To control that growing debt, the Government is working towards a balanced budget in 2014 and 2015," he said.
"That means a strong focus on public spending and getting the most out of every dollar.
"Health is a fifth of all government spending so we in the public health service have an important role to play in that."
Mr Ryall said the demographic challenge stemmed from the population living longer.
"If we spent what we do in health now, but allowed for the same proportion of people over 65 that we'll have in 2025, then we would need to be spending $2 billion more today on healthcare than we actually are."
The Government announced recently another increase in the number of patients who benefited from elective surgery - 7500 more patients throughout country, a record 153,000 operations, Mr Ryall said.
"What's more, in the last year, the number of patients across the country waiting longer than six months has reduced by 85% from 5700 to 840.
"This includes 690 patients on Canterbury DHB's list which has been exempted from the target this year."
The minister said the majority of DHBs achieved the goal of no patients waiting longer than six months and hailed it as an "outstanding team effort" from everyone across the public health service.
The Government was focused on preventing illness and its $24 million programme to reduce the rate of rheumatic fever by two-thirds was receiving tremendous support, he said.
Associate Minister of Health Jo Goodhew will launch "Quality and Safety Markers" in the next few weeks "to build on the success of the national health targets, by providing focused effort and reporting around a set of key areas of quality improvement".
