Much Ado About Squat

Ian Powell, executive director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, is complaining that Tony Ryall has a privatisation agenda because he has removed the requirements of DHBs to use public services unless the private service is superior and he has also removed the need to consult frontline personnel.

Firstly, let me say that the headline “Doctors warn of private takeover” should read “Doctor’s union warns of private takeover”, since the article only quotes Ian Powell, not frontline doctors. Secondly, the reality is that most doctors don’t give a rip where the service is coming from as long as it is as good as the previous provider. In the DML/Labtest fight, DML enlisted emotive reactions from the GPs by using scare tactics about Labtests. This is precisely what Ryall is trying to avoid – an emotional, sensationalised battle, every time the DHB contracts out a service.

Note that there is nothing new about this. DHBs have been contracting out (privatising) services for many, many years. Few hospitals maintain any of the ancillary services in-house any more. Meals, cleaning, maintenance, orderlies and laundry have all been contracted out. Half of the radiology services and virtually all the labs are private. Many physio and OT services in the smaller hospitals are private as well.

This is now such a non-issue that I am surprised that Powell even brings it up. It leads me to wonder whether the real hidden agenda here belongs to Powell rather than Ryall.

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