The podcast from the New Zealand Doctor newspaper. Featuring interviews and columns covering the business, staff, patients and ethos of general practice.
Welcome to 2025. System Fix host Barbara Fountain joins regular panellists Gabrielle Baker and Tim Tenbensel as the health sector year starts with the surprise, or maybe not surprise, arrival of a new health minister - Simeon Brown. The team talk about what the change means for the reforms of the New Zealand health sector currently awash with job and spending cuts. We also canvas the future of funding and how a new minister might work to meet everything expected of him by the boss, prime minister Christopher Luxon
System Fix host and New Zealand Doctor Rata Aotearoa editor Barbara Fountain talks to colleague and journalist Fiona Cassie about her feature story "Boiled frogs, tight nooses: The making of a PHO contract" to learn more about the mysterious general practice contract "negotiation" process run under the PHO Services Amendment Agreement Protocol, or PSAAP to its friends
After a sojourn, the System Fix panel is back with an update of the last five months in health reform - that is the time BEFORE health minister Shane Reti turned Te Whatu Ora and the reforms on their head by ditching the board and installing a commissioner. The Government Policy Statement on Health, a reality check on health targets, the puzzling road ahead for iwi Māori partnership boards and the move towards social investment are just some of the topics we touch on in Episode 27. Join host Barbara Fountain and regular panellists Gabrielle Baker and Tim Tenbensel for this latest health reform fix
How well do you remember those early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when New Zealand watched in apprehension as overseas the virus spread uncontrolled in Italy, health workers died on the job, and morgues ran out of room for the bodies of the dead. Specialist GP and writer Lucy O'Hagan remembers. In Waiting for COVID, Dr O'Hagan takes a personal journey back through her writings and observations of “COVID times”, reflecting on what the virus and the country's reaction meant for primary care and beyond. Lest we forget, Dr O'Hagan reminds us there was a time when the team of 5 million saved the lives of thousands.
Hand–arm vibration syndrome develops in stages and prevention is critical; when function deteriorates, it is necessary to consider it lost, unless a lot of hard work is put into rehabilitation, professor in occupational and environmental medicine David McBride explains. He reminds listeners of the usual occupational health algorithm: identify the hazard, assess the exposure, control the hazard, monitor the hazard and the individual, and give information and training
Exposure to high levels of whole-body vibration, such as that caused by driving forklifts and other forms of material handling equipment, can and does cause intervertebral disc degeneration. Professor in occupational and environmental medicine David McBride explains
It's a cracker episode with panellists and health policy experts Gabrielle Baker and Tim Tenbensel joining me, Barbara Fountain, to catch up on the latest in health reforms. The panel convened in the middle of a week that started with the Parliamentary debate on the disestablishment of Te Aka Whai Ora. You'll hear about: The impact of the closure of Te Aka Whai Ora on Māori patients and providers and the wider reforms; The resulting brake on the rollout of localities, the increased role for iwi Māori partnership boards and where all this leaves the Hauora Māori Advisory Committee; Tim rails against the use of urgency in Parliament (elective dictatorship) and the misnomer that is the health postcode lottery; The new health status report gets a plug, even if just as a useful resource tool; Gabrielle updates us on progress on the second stage of the Wai2575 claim concerning tāngata whaikaha Māori, Māori with lived experience of disability. All this and more
The year 2023 is quickly becoming a distant memory as the great Kiwi summer does an excellent job of wiping the neural slate clean. System Fix host Barbara Fountain takes the opportunity of an unexpected convalescence, to refresh her memory by looking back at her editorials in 2023. The heart of New Zealand Doctor Rata Aoteraroa is in primary care and you will hear that theme loud and strong in this episode of System Fix. It's not a comprehensive look at the year - more of a fly by. So settle in and drift back to early 2023 when Jacinda Ardern was prime minister, Andrew Little was health minister and Rob Campbell was chair of Te Whatu Ora
Recent changes to the Arms Act 1983 and the launch of Te Tari Pūreke are intended to support the safe and responsible use of firearms in Aotearoa, making our communities safer. This article by Kendra Hill and Cathy Stephenson answers some common questions about the implications of these changes for health practitioners
New Zealand Doctor Rata Aotearoa journalist Fiona Cassie talks to Joe Bourne, the first GP to hold the role of chief medical officer at the Ministry of Health
New Zealand Doctor Rata Aotearoa journalist Alan Perrott's profiles Tāmaki Health chief executive Lloyd McCann in the first of our Long Read series
Abbe Anderson is Te Whatu Ora national director commissioning. The buck stops with her for any items relating to funding and planning in primary care and community health. System Fix host and New Zealand Doctor Rata Aotearoa editor Barbara Fountain recently caught up with Abbe via Zoom. They chatted about her passion to see a reform built on knowing what people want of their health system, progress with sector restructuring, why that capitation offer won't go past 5 per cent, the growth of localities, and the weight of expectation, aka, what keeps Abbe awake at night. Thanks for listening.
Five weeks after he was sacked as chair of the board of Te Whatu Ora, Rob Campbell reflected on what was going so wrong with the health reforms and what might be done to make it right. He was speaking to a meeting of the Fabian Society in Wellington. System Fix host and New Zealand Doctor Rata Aotearoa editor Barbara Fountain says that speech and Mr Campbell's subsequent comments deserve more air time and replays it as part of this podcast episode. Mr Campbell provides the ultimate insider's view of the reform process – with fresh eyes on health he was leading the new structure at the heart of the reform, that is, until he was dismissed by health minister Ayesha Verrall for breaching public service etiquette and commenting on political matters outside his brief
System Fix host and New Zealand Doctor Rata Aotearoa editor Barbara Fountain is joined by regular panelists independent health policy consultant Gabrielle Baker (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kuri) and Auckland University health policy professor Tim Tenbensel for the first episode of 2023. You name it, we cover it - a new health minister, the end of the transition unit, progress with planned care, commissioning, iwi Māori partnership boards, localities, PHOs, capitation, pay parity, primary care funding, disability developments, performance targets, workforce and transparency.
Iwi Māori partnership boards are a crucial element of the new health sector landscape. The boards are the Treaty partners in a system which has as a key priority achieving equity in health outcomes for Māori. System Fix host and New Zealand Doctor Rata Aotearoa editor Barbara Fountain is joined by regular panelist Gabrielle Baker and guest Simon Royal to take a look at the challenges facing these new boards
System Fix host and New Zealand Doctor Rata Aotearoa editor Barbara Fountain provides a quick rundown of events around the 1 July launch of New Zealand's new central health entities - Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand and Te Aka Whai Ora - Māori Health Authority, and then makes way for senior journalist Martin Johnston's interview with Te Whatu Ora board chair Rob Campbell, who admits he was quite shocked when he realised quite how dysfunctional the health system was
As the 1 July deadline looms, System Fix host Barbara Fountain is joined by regular panelists independent health policy consultant Gabrielle Baker and Auckland University health policy researcher Tim Tenbensel, for a whistlestop tour of the latest developments in the roll out of the health reforms
System Fix host Barbara Fountain is joined by New Zealand Doctor Rata Aotearoa senior journalist Martin Johnston in conversation with Martin Hefford of the interim Health New Zealand, on the afternoon of 21 April, the day health minister Andrew Little announced the first nine prototype localities
It's been a while between podcasts, what with the summer break and now COVID making its mark in New Zealand. System Fix host Barbara Fountain joins regular panelists Gabrielle Baker and Tim Tenbensel to catch up with progress on the roll out of the health sector reforms, or as we like to call it, the Big Little Revolution
New Zealand Doctor Rata Aotearoa editor Barbara Fountain and senior journalist Martin Johnston recap progress with the country's health reforms in 2021
The health reforms legislation - Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Bill - was tabled by health minister Andrew Little on 20 October and soon after passed its first reading. Regular System Fix panellists Gabrielle Baker and Tim Tenbensel join host Barbara Fountain with a mission in mind - their own reading of the bill, so you don't have to (though we know you probably will - it's the bane of being a health reform junkie)
New Zealand Doctor Rata Aotearoa editor Barbara Fountain talks to Stephen McKernan, director of the Health and Disability Review Transition Unit, and his deputy, Martin Hefford, about function trumping form, a crucial health plan, central agencies vs local services, communities and localities, private providers, workforce, leadership and, ultimately, selling the plan for health sector reform and convincing people to stay the course
New Zealand Doctor Rata Aotearoa editor Barbara Fountain talks to David Meates, former chief executive of Canterbury DHB and now roving health reform consultant, about how change happens in health systems…and more
New Zealand Doctor Rata Aotearoa reporter Martin Johnston interview health minister Andrew Little.
It's just over 400 days since the report of the Health and Disability System Review Panel, aka the Simpson Report, was released. New Zealand Doctor Rata Aotearoa editor Barbara Fountain and regular System Fix panelists Gabrielle Baker and Tim Tenbensel catch up on the latest developments in the roll out of reforms to the New Zealand health system
New Zealand Doctor Rata Aotearoa editor Barbara Fountain talks with rural health champion Kim Gosman about health reform and what it might mean for rural and Māori health
New Zealand Doctor Rata Aotearoa editor Barbara Fountain catched up with folk in the rural health sector at the National Rural Health Conference to find out what they're thinking about the health reforms, in particular rural localities. Health and Disability System Transition Unit deputy director Martin Hefford provides some insights on the proposed changes
Regular panelists, independent health researcher Gabrielle Baker and University of Auckland health policy researcher Tim Tenbensel, join New Zealand Doctor Rata Aotearoa editor Barbara Fountain to take on the challenge of interpreting what this year’s Budget might mean for health and more specifically the health reforms, and catch up on progress with the reforms rollout
Health minister Andrew Little revealed his plans for the health system on 21 April with a restructuring which went well beyond that recommended in the Health and Disability System Review. Barbara Fountain and regular panelists Gabrielle Baker and Tim Tenbensel digest the news
Her Easter plans having changed unexpectedly and with an announcement on the new health sector structures expected before the end of the month, New Zealand Doctor Rata Aotearoa editor Barbara Fountain, spent a rainy day at home hunting out the audio from last year's Popcorn Panel discussing super-sized DHBs and the proposed Health NZ. Joining her from the archival audio footage are health policy researcher Tim Tenbensel, health sector commentator Ian Powell and ProCare medical director and former DHB man Allan Moffitt. It's not your usual panel discussion.
Barbara Fountain recaps the latest on the reforms taking place to the health system, and chats to Christchurch GP Vanessa Weenink and Auckland medical oncologist George Laking (Te Whakatōhea) – both with leadership roles in the sector – about the tricky issue of professional capture of systems and change; how veteran medical professionals could benefit from the education their younger colleagues are receiving, and the power shifts needed to help make reforms work
Episode 5: The System Fix panel – Barbara Fountain, Gabrielle Baker and Tim Tenbensel - continues sifting through the little official news currently available on the transformation of the New Zealand health system and find there’s more happening out there than first apprearances might suggest
Ep 4: Time tables, game changers, the perennial issue of power plays within government systems, and more on what a Māori health agency might look like, are all up for discussion by Barbara Fountain and regular panellists Gabrielle Baker and Tim Tenbensel
Ep.3 New Zealand Doctor|Rata Aotearoa senior journalist Martin Johnston talks to health minister Andrew Little about progress with implementing the health sector changes as proposed by the Simpson Report
Ep.2 Disability services advocate Ruth Jones (Ngāti Porou) of Hei Whakapiki Mauri and Kanohi ki te Kanohi Consultancy and Jane Cartwright, chair of intellectual disabilities services provider Brackenridge Services, talk with New Zealand Doctor|Rata Aotearoa editor Barbara Fountain about why the Simpson report falls short for people with disabilities (With apologies for some technical glitches)
Episode one: The Health Media’s Barbara Fountain, health sector consultant Gabrielle Baker (Ngāpuhi) and health policy researcher Tim Tenbensel start out on a journey, to follow the implementation of changes to the New Zealand health and disability system. We start with introductions, some initial thoughts on legislated charters, meaningful acknowlegement of te Tiriti o Waitangi and transition – fast and slow
South Auckland GP Orna McGinn talks about the poor access to contraception in New Zealand and what needs to change
Christchurch GP and former army doctor Vanessa Weenink talks about the real meaning of command and control, and why bureaucrats just don’t get it when it comes to dealing with primary care
Shortly before this year's general election, Fiona Thomas spoke to Labour's David Clark about what he would do, should he become health minister.
There were two David Haslams at this year's RNZCGP conference in Dunedin. Fiona Thomas spoke to each of them. Here, she speaks to Professor David Haslam, chair of the UK's National Obesity Forum
There were two David Haslams at this year's RNZCGP conference in Dunedin. Fiona Thomas spoke to each of them. Here, she speaks to Professor David Haslam, chair of UK guidelines group NICE
Health minister Jonathan Coleman's media conference at Onslow Medical Centre in Wellington, launching the National Party policy of $18 GP fees
Tim Malloy talks to Cliff Taylor about VLCA and primary care funding
Dr Malloy has just been re-elected as president of the college
Dr Tosh Stanley discusses how nutrition in first 1000 days of life can shape a child’s future health. University of Otago, Wellington.
Jo Scott-Jones talks about ways of increasing your income
A philosophy of care can be defined as the underlying theory or set of ideas that informs the values and choices that you use to help meet your patients’ needs
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