So that’s what gets Reti riled – a National Public Health Service submission against McDonald’s setting up shop in Wanaka
There’s plenty to raise a Health Minister’s blood pressure.
Take – for example – news that Health New Zealand spent $72 million on contractors and consultants for a single IT project, in the lead-up to moving to get rid of over 1000 positions for IT employees.
One recruitment company alone, Robert Walters, was paid $17m in the last two years on the project.
The big spending on the outside hires is set to continue into next year, though Health NZ said it expected more staff to be taken on, too.
Then there’s the bizarre news that graduates who have missed out on nursing jobs are looking at heading overseas, even though that’s not what they want.
A spokeswoman for a group representing nursing students says Health New Zealand has failed in its most basic duty to plan for the future nursing workforce.
This comes after Health NZ offered just 844 of 1619 graduate nurses jobs on Wednesday, with 775 missing out.
Point of Order confesses we have yet to sift through all of the statements released from the Beehive in the past 24 hours or so.
Thus we can’t know for sure how Reti has responded to the spending on contractors and the failure of nursing graduates to get jobs in a health system supposedly short of nurses.
We do know he is grouching about the National Public Health Service politicking against the attempt by McDonald’s to set up shop in Wanaka.
He called for a focus on prioritising serious public health issues facing New Zealanders.
“Earlier this week I was informed about an 8-page submission by the southern arm of the NPHS regarding a proposed fast food outlet in Wanaka,” Dr Reti says.
“I have raised my ongoing concerns about the content of submissions like these with the Chief Executive of Health New Zealand.
“Content within the submission, including observations about planetary health, landscape values, traffic and Te Tiriti do not match my over-arching view of what the NPHS should be spending its time on.
“Whooping cough, measles and raising immunisation rates are among the most pressing issues facing health today.
“I also found it astonishing that a submission from a health agency did not address the topics it might have been expected to. There was no mention in the document I have seen of healthy eating.”
Reti said he was pleased to hear that the National Director of the NPHS has undertaken to review all potential public submissions from his agency, whether at a national, local or regional level.
“Submissions will have to meet more stringent criteria than were used in the context of the proposed Wanaka McDonald’s document.
“They will need to be considered as having a reasonable chance of influencing a decision and the NPHS says submissions will only be made on issues of direct public health concern.
“These will be temporary measures while the service focuses on its important reset currently underway. A permanent framework will be established in future.
“I do recognise the important work of frontline public health services on issues such the spread of infectious diseases and on providing health services for children.
“Today’s acknowledgement from the Director to me will make more time available for that vital work,” Dr Reti says.
The statement which tells us what gets him riled – and gives us a good idea of his priorities – can be found in an avalanche of press releases recently posted on the government’s official website:
The big spending on the outside hires is set to continue into next year, though Health NZ said it expected more staff to be taken on, too.
Then there’s the bizarre news that graduates who have missed out on nursing jobs are looking at heading overseas, even though that’s not what they want.
A spokeswoman for a group representing nursing students says Health New Zealand has failed in its most basic duty to plan for the future nursing workforce.
This comes after Health NZ offered just 844 of 1619 graduate nurses jobs on Wednesday, with 775 missing out.
Point of Order confesses we have yet to sift through all of the statements released from the Beehive in the past 24 hours or so.
Thus we can’t know for sure how Reti has responded to the spending on contractors and the failure of nursing graduates to get jobs in a health system supposedly short of nurses.
We do know he is grouching about the National Public Health Service politicking against the attempt by McDonald’s to set up shop in Wanaka.
He called for a focus on prioritising serious public health issues facing New Zealanders.
“Earlier this week I was informed about an 8-page submission by the southern arm of the NPHS regarding a proposed fast food outlet in Wanaka,” Dr Reti says.
“I have raised my ongoing concerns about the content of submissions like these with the Chief Executive of Health New Zealand.
“Content within the submission, including observations about planetary health, landscape values, traffic and Te Tiriti do not match my over-arching view of what the NPHS should be spending its time on.
“Whooping cough, measles and raising immunisation rates are among the most pressing issues facing health today.
“I also found it astonishing that a submission from a health agency did not address the topics it might have been expected to. There was no mention in the document I have seen of healthy eating.”
Reti said he was pleased to hear that the National Director of the NPHS has undertaken to review all potential public submissions from his agency, whether at a national, local or regional level.
“Submissions will have to meet more stringent criteria than were used in the context of the proposed Wanaka McDonald’s document.
“They will need to be considered as having a reasonable chance of influencing a decision and the NPHS says submissions will only be made on issues of direct public health concern.
“These will be temporary measures while the service focuses on its important reset currently underway. A permanent framework will be established in future.
“I do recognise the important work of frontline public health services on issues such the spread of infectious diseases and on providing health services for children.
“Today’s acknowledgement from the Director to me will make more time available for that vital work,” Dr Reti says.
The statement which tells us what gets him riled – and gives us a good idea of his priorities – can be found in an avalanche of press releases recently posted on the government’s official website:
Latest from the Beehive
29 November 2024
Minister of Health Dr Shane Reti says the National Public Health Service should concentrate its focus on prioritising serious public health issues facing New Zealanders.
Sightseers to the iconic Punakaiki (Pancake Rocks and Blowholes Track) will enjoy a richer experience thanks to a world class visitor experience centre run by local Iwi, Conservation Minister Tama Potaka says.
A five-year evaluation of the Healthy Homes Initiative has demonstrated the positive impact of warm, dry homes on the health and wellbeing of more than 200,000 people.
In a busy year of delivery, the Government has made concrete progress toward improving the foundations of the infrastructure system and addressing New Zealand’s infrastructure deficit, and is streets ahead when it comes to getting transport back on track.
New figures on mining activity across New Zealand show the Crown collected nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in revenue in the 2023/24 financial year, bolstered by royalties collected from petroleum and gold.
Today marks a significant milestone for the port and maritime sector, with the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon Brooke van Velden, and the Associate Minister of Transport celebrating the Approved Code of Practice for Loading and Unloading Cargo at Ports and on Ships (ACOP) coming into effect.
In just its first week, over 300 people have reported red tape issues to the new Red Tape tipline, Regulation Minister David Seymour says.
An upcoming change to the Employment Relations Act will enable employers to ensure they have the right fit for their high impact leadership and specialist roles.
New Zealand and Germany are committed to enhancing their partnership, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.
28 November 2024
Foreign Minister Winston Peters today announced new sanctions in response to Russia’s ongoing illegal invasion of Ukraine – and joined partners in a Call to Action on sanctions-evading ‘shadow fleet’ activities.
The modernisation of New Zealand’s trade certification system, which supports $33 billion of exports, is making selling top Kiwi products overseas more reliable and adaptable for the future.
Today’s opening of a new MRI facility at Whanganui Hospital is the latest in a number of health infrastructure projects designed to improve healthcare services for the people of Whanganui and surrounding districts.
The Government is delivering on its commitment to combat trade in illegally harvested timber, with consultation starting today on operational details to implement New Zealand’s legal harvest assurance system.
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden has today received the report from phase 1 of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19.
The Government is ensuring more Kiwi kids get extra support with their reading and maths by boosting the level of targeted interventions in classrooms around the country.
State Highway 1B (SH1B) Telephone Road in Waikato will reopen in 2025, following agreement by KiwiRail and the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) on a package of improvements to enable the road and rail crossing to function safely and effectively together.
The University of Canterbury is to be commended for increasing its intake of clinical psychology students, Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey and Minister for Tertiary Education and Skills Penny Simmonds say.
Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton
1 comment:
Sounds like a surfeit of bureaucrats going off in their own directions, taking up all the space that needs to be devoted to healing.
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