Chris Roberts: Private Surgical Hospitals Association CEO on the report finding the private health sector has the capacity to ease the burden on public health

New research highlights a need to send more public health procedures to the private system. 

Westpac's latest healthcare report shows New Zealand currently spends about 10% of GDP on healthcare, split between 7% on public care and just 3% on private. 

It argues the private sector is nimbler, with extra capacity that can help cut wait times and improve outcomes. 

Private Surgical Hospitals Association Chief Executive Chris Roberts told Ryan Bridge its hospitals are investing in new facilities and operating theatres. 

He says they don't tend to have the staffing issues some public hospitals do, so are looking to provide a bigger service. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
New Westpac report out this morning says we need to
send more public health procedures to the private system. We
spend about ten percent of our GDP on health the year,
seven percent public, three percent private. That's about the same
as the rest of the world. But the report argues
that specialized treatments could go private, cutting wake times, improving outcomes.
Chris Roberts, New Zealand Private Surgical Hospitals Associations CEO, with

(00:22):
me this morning. Chris, good morning, Good morning, Ryan. Has
Westpac had the nail on the head here?

Speaker 2 (00:28):
Well, I don't think there's any surprises in these conclusions
from Westpac. New Zealand's had a mixed private public health
system for a very long time. Private hospitals have been
around for one hundred years in New Zealand, and we
are being called on more and more, and that's because
we do have the capabilities. We deliver quality care and

(00:50):
we can take pressure off the public health system.

Speaker 1 (00:53):
And the government's already doing this with hips and knees
and a bunch of other stuff more frequently now than previously.
Is that the reports is there's lots of capacity. I mean,
do we have surgeons sitting around twiddling their thumbs in private.

Speaker 2 (01:07):
No, we don't, but we do have private hospitals investing.
They've invested heavily over the last few years into new facilities,
new operating sizes. They don't tend to have the staffing
issues that some of the public hospitals do, so they
are looking to provide a bigger service. And of course

(01:29):
the private hospitals as well as the insurance patients that
they look after, they've long done most of the ACC surgery.
So about ninety percent of the surgery done under the
ACC scheme happens in private hospitals. And currently about twenty
percent of the Health New Zealand patients, those on the

(01:51):
elective surgery waiting list, it's about twenty percent get seam
in the private hospital. And I can tell you if
you're on that public waiting list and you get told
that you're going to get your long awaited surgery in
a private hospital, you're pretty happy about that.

Speaker 1 (02:06):
No one's going to say no to a knee now, Chris,
what's the public system getting so wrong when it comes
to efficiency or are you actually doing very different things
and therefore they can't cop all the blame.

Speaker 2 (02:19):
Oh, look, the public system is trying to be everything
to everybody, so it's dealing with acute surgery emergency needs.
Private hospitals are all about planned care, so they're not
doing that emergency service. They can plan their week, they're
month ahead of they know which patients are coming in

(02:40):
for surgery. They're incredibly efficient at looking after those patients
and that's why it makes sense for those planned surgeries
to happen in a private facility. It's far more efficient,
it's more cost effective, and critically, it gives the patient
a better experience when they're going to get your surgery,

(03:01):
that they're not going to get pushed off the list
several times have to prepare for surgery and miss out
and come back again. When you get booked into a
private hospital, you know when you're going to have your
surgery and you get it.

Speaker 1 (03:14):
Chris, appreciate your time. This morn and Chris Roberts, the
Private Surgical Hospitals Association Chief Executive.

Speaker 2 (03:20):
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Speaker 1 (03:24):
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