Kate Hawkesby: Public services workers are doing what they can

When you think about all the sectors and industries in this country which have gone to the dogs lately —much of the public service, (electoral commission anyone?), the media, airlines, airports (namely Auckland), Hospitals— there’s an underlying common denominator.  

Within all these sectors there are still amazing people doing amazing things. I hear so often for example from people who, despite all the doom and gloom and horrible news about our Hospitals, have the best experiences with considerate, hardworking, and dedicated nurses. People who say they could not fault the care and attention they received. 

Kate Hawkesby: Alarming new data on vaping

So we got new data yesterday on vaping, and it's nothing short of alarming.  

We here in NZ are among the biggest vapers in the developed world. The OECD found 8.2% of people aged 15 or older regularly vape in New Zealand, which puts us in second place, just behind Estonia.  

I was speaking to a specialist cardio sonographer the other day, and she was telling me that she thinks we’re going to find out down the track that vaping is worse than smoking. We just don't have enough research on it yet, but the toxins you're inhaling when you're vaping... no good can come of that. 

Heather du Plessis-Allan: Our doctors need better pay

Do you know what? I'm actually cross at Health NZ Te Whatu Ora for playing silly buggers with senior doctors and their pay.

Things are serious right now. It is a serious thing for senior doctors to go on strike today, they've never done this before.

And I can totally understand why- they must be at their wits end with the silly games Te Whatu Ora are playing to avoid paying doctors properly. 

Peter Wilson: The Week in Politics -The extent of the health staff shortage hits home

Health workforce data shows the extent of the problem that this government and the next are facing, National and ACT reject a report which says the country can't arrest its way out of the gang problem, and the Kiri Allan saga rumbles on as Labour's internal problems continue to plague the party.

The health workforce shortage is a decades-old problem but it wasn't until this week the extent of it was precisely known - more than 8000 nurses, doctors and other health professionals.

Francesca Rudkin: The Government would've been hoping for a better report card

Saturday marked a year since the new heath system Te Whatu Ora kicked into gear. Twenty district health boards were abolished and replaced with a centralised system aimed at getting rid of our postcode lottery of health care.

A year ago, I wished the then Minister of Health Andrew Little good luck with his venture. Our health system had been under pressure way before the pandemic hit, and clearly needed an overhaul. I liked the fact the government was taking a big swing at this and trying to make sure that New Zealander’s, regardless of where they lived, got the same services and healthcare. Us Kiwis love fairness!

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 28/6/23

Finding out how $128m is being spent (on universities), who has met our PM (Xi Jinping) and what Robertson didn’t mention

Confirmation of our Buzz report yesterday was recorded on the government’s official website soon after we posted our news.

Yes, the government short-changed the universities on Budget Day and has come up with an extra $128 million funding, over two years, for tertiary education providers for courses at degree level and above.

For good measure, the government will review higher education funding system.

Barry Soper & Jason Walls: Auckland surgeons must now consider ethnicity in prioritising patients for operations - some are not happy

Auckland surgeons are now being required to consider a patient’s ethnicity alongside other factors when deciding who should get an operation first.

Several surgeons say they are upset by the policy, which was introduced in Auckland in February and gave priority to Māori and Pacific Island patients - on the grounds that they have historically had unequal access to healthcare.

Kerre Woodham: Surely it should be based on need alone

The headline in the Herald this morning says, “Auckland surgeons must now consider ethnicity and prioritising patients for operations”. But I think this has been going on for some time, certainly the texts I've received over the past year indicate that this has been going on for some time.

ACT party leader David Seymour backed that up when he told Mike Hosking this morning that he's had surgeons, in his office, telling him that they were being told to take ethnicity into account when deciding who should get an operation first, and that they were uncomfortable about it. David Seymour said, well we need evidence that this is in fact a public health policy. And now the evidence is here.

A.E. Thompson: The Whatuing Of Our New Health Service

My contacts have provided an update on the 'reforms' of our health service. Not much has been sorted or admitted to yet though undoubtedly at great expense. Just providing new letterhead paper, envelopes, signage etc across all the previous DHBs and throwing away all the previous stuff will be very costly and wasteful. However, it's all worth it to bless us with the language of Manglish; the title of this piece joins in the fun. In a recent communication to employees of Health New Zealand (oh sorry, Te Whatu Ora; the English name isn't even mentioned in most communications), the following were noted: