Accessibility to the Public Health System

My social issue blog is about the accessibility of the public health system to our most vulnerable, our children and lower income families. 

Why access to public health for children? I believe if our children are unwell they are unable to fully experience an environment where they can explore, contribute, communicate, feel a sense of belonging and well-being (Ministry of Education, 1996). Teachers must advocate for the children we work with and give them a voice, when they otherwise would not have one. In particular, in a public forum when discussing social issues that are important for our children, such as whether or not children have adequate access to the public health system.

I will be exploring whether or not children and low income families are accessing the services the government has put in place to target them, for example, Primary Health Care.

The Ministry of Health (2013) states “all New Zealand citizens are eligible for publicly funded services”. But is this statement really true and are all New Zealanders accessing the public health system?

New Zealand's public health system seems to be moving towards a user pays health system. Due to a shift of government from the left to the right in New Zealand, there has been a shift in ideology that our public health system should be a system where the consumer pays. Giddens (1997, cited in Adams, 2005) points out that “we live in a social order where economic growth tends to take precedents over all else – but this situation creates a lack of meaning in everyday life” (p. 30). The priority of economics versus the importance of people is beginning to be seen in health policies that have come into effect since National was elected into government in 2008.

I therefore pose two questions, should the public being paying for a health system or should the individual pay as he goes? How does this affect the health of the children of lower income families?

I need to acknowledge that there are other groups that are disadvantaged when gaining access to public health systems, the elderly and Maori and Pacific populations.  However I do not have the word count or scope in this blog to explore these issues.

References:

Adams, P. (2005).Competing visions of society. In P. Adams, R. Openshaw, & J. Hamer, (Eds). 

Education and society in Aotearoa New Zealand (2nd ed.). (pp.4-32). North Shore, New Zealand: Cengage Learning. 

Ministry of Education (1996). Te Whaariki: He Whaariki matauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.