Ministers address some of our health concerns – but they won’t divert attention from woman’s death in Emergency Department
The Government is doing its best to assure us of its intention to keep us alive and in good health (for as long as it reasonably it can, obviously, taking our mortality into considerations).
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey grabbed the opportunity to remind us that today is World Suicide Prevention Day. He launched a consultation for the Government’s draft Suicide Prevention Action Plan 2025-2029 at an event in Parliament this morning to mark the occasion.
Health Minister Shane Reti and Associate Health Minister Casey Costello, meanwhile, were reminding us that September is Cervical Screening Awareness Month,
They drew attention to data showing how many New Zealand women have opted for a world-leading self-test for cervical screening since it became available a year ago (which means it was launched on Labour’s watch).
The self-test, described as a quick, simple swab which women can do themselves, detects HPV, which causes over 95 per cent of cervical cancers.
Since September 2023, more than 380,000 women have had their screening check. Of those, 80.8 per cent have had self-tests recorded.
But Point of Order’s monitors of the Beehive reckon neither of those press statements will excite the news media as much as a happening in the health domain which has not (at time of writing) been addressed on the government’s official website.
This is the news that:
A patient who died in the waiting room of Rotorua Hospital’s emergency department (ED) last month had been waiting three hours to be seen.
Distressed staff say she should have been seen within an hour, but the department was critically short-staffed.
Just two weeks earlier, ED staff had written to management, flagging their worries over excessive wait times.
The sobering reality for Reti and all other ministers with responsibilities in the health domain is that the country is desperately short of medical staff. They won’t remedy that in a hurry and voters’ concerns about the inadequacies of our health services are bound to influence their decisions at the next general election.
Ministers without health responsibilities have been busy, too, over the past 24 hours.
Revenue Minister Simon Watts will be mindful that the news media have reported:
IRD is giving hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ details to social media platforms for marketing campaigns, despite legal and computer experts saying it is not safe.
But while Watts has had nothing to say on the Beehive website about that highly controversial issue, he has issued a statement to say IRD can begin processing GST returns for businesses that have been affected by a historic legislative drafting error.
It seems this error prevents taxpayers who acquired an asset before April 2023 from using the simplified one-step adjustment calculation when there was a permanent change of use for that asset.
Sorting out the staffing of our hospitals and finding enough doctors and nurses for our GP services is likely to be much more challenging.
In his capacity as Regulation Minister, David Seymour has shown he has more on his mind than the Treaty principles bill.
He has welcomed the Ministry for Regulation’s first Strategic Intentions document, which outlines the Ministry’s strategic priorities:
They drew attention to data showing how many New Zealand women have opted for a world-leading self-test for cervical screening since it became available a year ago (which means it was launched on Labour’s watch).
The self-test, described as a quick, simple swab which women can do themselves, detects HPV, which causes over 95 per cent of cervical cancers.
Since September 2023, more than 380,000 women have had their screening check. Of those, 80.8 per cent have had self-tests recorded.
But Point of Order’s monitors of the Beehive reckon neither of those press statements will excite the news media as much as a happening in the health domain which has not (at time of writing) been addressed on the government’s official website.
This is the news that:
A patient who died in the waiting room of Rotorua Hospital’s emergency department (ED) last month had been waiting three hours to be seen.
Distressed staff say she should have been seen within an hour, but the department was critically short-staffed.
Just two weeks earlier, ED staff had written to management, flagging their worries over excessive wait times.
The sobering reality for Reti and all other ministers with responsibilities in the health domain is that the country is desperately short of medical staff. They won’t remedy that in a hurry and voters’ concerns about the inadequacies of our health services are bound to influence their decisions at the next general election.
Ministers without health responsibilities have been busy, too, over the past 24 hours.
Revenue Minister Simon Watts will be mindful that the news media have reported:
IRD is giving hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ details to social media platforms for marketing campaigns, despite legal and computer experts saying it is not safe.
But while Watts has had nothing to say on the Beehive website about that highly controversial issue, he has issued a statement to say IRD can begin processing GST returns for businesses that have been affected by a historic legislative drafting error.
It seems this error prevents taxpayers who acquired an asset before April 2023 from using the simplified one-step adjustment calculation when there was a permanent change of use for that asset.
Sorting out the staffing of our hospitals and finding enough doctors and nurses for our GP services is likely to be much more challenging.
In his capacity as Regulation Minister, David Seymour has shown he has more on his mind than the Treaty principles bill.
He has welcomed the Ministry for Regulation’s first Strategic Intentions document, which outlines the Ministry’s strategic priorities:
- Lead the reform of the regulatory policy process
- Partner to deliver improvements to existing regulation
- Invest in the capability of regulatory leaders
- Set expectations around the performance of regulatory systems
- Establish the Ministry’s role and operating model.
And Defence Minister Judith Collins has welcomed the first of five new C-130J-30 Hercules to arrive in New Zealand .
She enthused:
“This is an historic day for our New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) and our nation. The new Hercules fleet is a significant Government investment in our ability to respond to national and international events, anytime and anywhere.”
The remainder of the fleet of five aircraft is scheduled to touchdown in New Zealand by the end of the year. They replace the existing fleet of C-130H Hercules, which have collectively conducted more than 97,000 flights since first being deployed in the 1960s.
Latest from the Beehive
10 September 2024
Inland Revenue can begin processing c returns for businesses affected by a historic legislative drafting error, Revenue Minister Simon Watts says.
More than 80 per cent of New Zealand women being tested have opted for a world-leading self-test for cervical screening since it became available a year ago.
Regulation Minister David Seymour welcomes the Ministry for Regulation’s first Strategic Intentions document, which sets out how the Ministry will carry out its work and deliver on its purpose.
The Education Minister has established a Māori Education Ministerial Advisory Group made up of experienced practitioners to help improve outcomes for Māori learners.
Defence Minister Judith Collins today welcomed the first of five new C-130J-30 Hercules to arrive in New Zealand at a ceremony at the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s Base Auckland, Whenuapai.
Today, September 10 is World Suicide Prevention Day, a time to reflect on New Zealand’s confronting suicide statistics, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says.
Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton
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