New med school to save $50m a year, govt claims

Otago Daily Times

4 days ago

Nearly $2billion could be saved by 2042 if a new medical school to train rural doctors is created in Hamilton, the detailed business case for the project says.
Made public at 6.45pm yesterday, a document dump including the business case reveals the cost of producing GPs at a new medical school at the University of Waikato would be $50million a year cheaper than doing it through existing medical schools.
It was announced on Monday the government had decided to approve the country's third medical school, to be built in Hamilton.
Over 16 years from 2026 to 2042 the total cost of medical education at Waikato, including capital costs that include building a new school, would be $9.1b, it says.
It would cost $10.9b over the same period to increase the intake of students at existing medical schools and $10.2b if a new medical training programme focused on rural health, jointly run by the universities of Otago and Auckland was established.
The Waikato option would also be the cheapest for the Crown in terms of its ongoing contribution to operating costs at $37.2m a year, compared with $45.5m a year for increasing intake at existing medical schools.
But there are concerns the actual costs are still unknown.
Green MP Francisco Hernandez said the government's decision to "dump" the business case after work hours on a Friday was "deeply insulting to the public".
"This is not the actions of a government that is confident in the business case — and judging from what I've read so far they're right to not be," he said.
Rather than engaging in good faith with Otago and Auckland universities and running an open process for a new graduate programme, the government had "deliberately stacked the deck to produce the outcome they want".
"The cost benefit analysis also assumes no further cost escalations — and with the Minister [of Health] refusing to rule out further funding — we just don't know how deep the government's blank cheque will extend to back this flawed proposal," Mr Hernandez said.
"Finally, the cost benefit analysis fails to even consider the issue of [the] benefits of training more Māori or Pasifika doctors — perhaps because [Waikato University] vice-chancellor [Neil] Quigley has reportedly ruled out a programme like [Māori and Pacific Admission Scheme] to boost Māori and Pasifika doctors and the government has failed to make that a condition of this handout."
Dunedin MP Rachel Brooking said the Waikato medical school was pitched to the National Party as a "present" to them when in office.
"Decisions about the future of New Zealand's medical workforce should be made on more robust grounds," she said.
"It's important we take the time to analyse the business case before commenting, which we will do in due course."
Taieri MP Ingrid Leary said she was not surprised information was redacted from the business case.
"I've got numerous official information documents that are heavily redacted and I'm concerned but not surprised that this remains the pattern [of the government]."
She said she felt it had been shown the new medical school was "effectively a done deal" well before the public announcement, due to the government's coalition agreements.
"The timing of the release of critical documents on a significant issue is deeply cynical and, along with the heavy redactions, makes me wonder what the National government is trying to hide?"