The Government should stop spending millions of dollars on its health sector experiment and focus the funding on areas that will actually make a difference to the lives of New Zealanders, National’s Health spokesperson Dr Shane Reti says.

“So far the Government has employed 25 people with a budget of $5 million to reduce the number of DHBs. But this funding will never directly benefit patients.

“Rather than spending millions on the unnecessary amalgamation of DHBs, this money would be much better spent in areas that will actually help New Zealanders.

“A good example is the rare disorders program that Labour cancelled. It had a budget of $5 million and was making a difference to those Kiwis who had a rare disorder.

“Health Minister Andrew Little hasn’t even seen a business case or risk analysis, and still won’t confirm which DHBs will go and how many jobs will be lost.

“If the Government wants to spend millions of dollars on an experiment then it’s time it came clean on which DHBs will be amalgamated. New Zealanders can then decide if they want to pay for a health sector experiment or spend that money on medicines for those in need.”