Doctors warn of private takeover

Senior doctors fear a silent private takeover after the Government scrapped a requirement to consult frontline workers before contracting out health services.

Until July, district health boards were expected to choose public providers over the private sector if both options were equally effective and to consult health workers if considering shifting services to a private provider.

Ian Powell, executive director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, said Health Minister Tony Ryall got rid of both requirements without telling doctors.

He also failed to consult health workers before announcing plans to contract out more elective surgery to private hospitals.

"There was no consultation with us at all. [Before the election] the government had talked about `smarter use of the private sector' ... but not that."

He said Mr Ryall's decision to scrap the requirements contradicted a report he had commissioned and declared his support for, which recommended consultation with doctors and other frontline health workers.

The way was now open for health boards to award other contracts to private providers without first talking to the workers affected.

Mr Powell said he did not have a problem with public-private arrangements in principle, but there was a danger that contracting out too many services to the private sector would damage New Zealand's health system in the long term.

"When you've contracted out that amount of volume the workforce starts to follow ... because the conditions are better and the money's better."

Australia was able to sustain both a private sector and robust public sector, but New Zealand was too small, he said.

Mr Ryall has said his plan for public-private partnerships would not undermine the public sector but encourage health boards to "spend public money wisely".

"We are telling DHBs they are free to work more co-operatively with the private sector ... provided the long-term viability of their resource and delivery is not undermined."

- © Fairfax NZ News