Podcasts about health new zealand

Questions to Ministers CHLÖE SWARBRICK to the Prime Minister: E tautoko ana ia i nga korero me nga mahi katoa a tona Kawanatanga? Does he stand by all of his Government's statements and actions? Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all his Government's statements and actions? LAURA McCLURE to the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety: What recent announcements has she made about reforming WorkSafe? NANCY LU to the Minister of Finance: What recent announcements has she made about business tax? Hon BARBARA EDMONDS to the Minister of Finance: Does she stand by her statement about the Budget that "Wages are forecast to grow faster than the inflation rate, making wage earners better off, on average, in real terms"; if so, what is the effect on wage growth over the forecast period of removing the $12.8 billion from future pay equity claims? Dr VANESSA WEENINK to the Minister responsible for RMA Reform: What announcements has he made on reforming national direction under the Resource Management Act 1991? TANYA UNKOVICH to the Minister for Resources: What announcements has he made regarding energy security in New Zealand? Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL to the Minister of Health: Does he stand by his statement in relation to emergency department wait times, "I expect Health New Zealand to empower clinicians at local levels to fix bottlenecks in real time"; if so, is he confident this has occurred ahead of winter 2025? Dr HAMISH CAMPBELL to the Minister of Education: What announcements has she made regarding learning support as part of Budget 2025? Hon MARAMA DAVIDSON to the Prime Minister: E tautoko ana ia i nga korero me nga mahi katoa a tona Kawanatanga? Does he stand by all of his Government's statements and actions? Hon JAN TINETTI to the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety: Does she stand by her proposed changes to WorkSafe; if so, why? PAULO GARCIA to the Associate Minister of Housing: What recent announcements has he made about social housing tenancies? Question to Member Hon Dr DUNCAN WEBB to the Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee: Why did he respond to the referral by the House to the Finance and Expenditure Committee of the Regulatory Standards Bill with a six-month reporting deadline by issuing a call for submissions with a four-week deadline?

For the next month nurses at Auckland City, Starship and Greenlane hospitals will refuse to take 'on-call' shifts. They say Health New Zealand's latest pay offer doesn't keep pace with inflation or the cost of living. Health New Zealand Northern Region Deputy chief executive Mike Shepherd spoke to Corin Dann.

Staff at an Auckland mental health facility are rallying to save what they say is a vital service for people who would otherwise fall through the cracks. Health New Zealand has put forward a proposal to close Segar House, a publicly funded intensive programme for people with long-standing or chronic mental health problems. The proposal said not enough people are treated there and staff would be better deployed elsewhere, but staff say are fighting for it to be saved. Jimmy Ellingham reports.

Health New Zealand says the situation in Tairāwhiti Hospital is challenging, but progress is being made with more permanent staff now signing on. Health NZ's Chief Clinical Officer Dr Richard Sullivan spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

In today's episode, the family of a 19-year-old Palmerston North teenager who died after taking part in a Run-It game in with friends are having to come to terms with the young man's death, a crackdown on public servants leaking information has been revealed, in a document leaked to RNZ, Health New Zealand says the situation in Tairawhiti Hospital is challenging, but progress is being made with more permanent staff now signing on, down-on-their-luck Kiwis living on Australia's Gold Coast are being offered one-way tickets back to New Zealand when they find themselves homeless and without government support, and for months the seemingly innocuous activity of stacking stones on the shores of Lake Tekapo had increased so much that residents couldn't keep up with knocking them all down.

Half of the children on the dental surgery waitlist have been waiting for more than four months. Health New Zealand data shows nearly three-thousand kids have been waiting for more than 120 days. Otago dentistry Senior Lecturer Samuel Carrington tells Ryan Bridge waiting patients have complex issues with their teeth. "By the time Tamariki reach hospital care, they're usually in a lot of significant pain and have multiple infected or abscessed teeth," he says. LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

78 people are to be quarantined after coming in contact with measles. Health New Zealand's said it's reached out to 286 close contacts since the first case was confirmed earlier this month. 90% of people unvaccinated that come in contact with measles will be infected. Dr Bryan Betty said it's one of the most contagious diseases known to man. He says Covid has a reproduction number of 2-3 and influenza is 1.3, so measles sitting at 12 to 18 is completely off the scale. Betty says people should limit their movements. He says if people think they have measles, they should ring their medical centre for advice as they risk spreading the disease if they turn up to their medical centre. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Checkpoint has discovered Te Whatu Ora has spent more than 130 million dollars remediating payroll problems and that doesn't include the cost of repaying wages. It all stems from issues related to the Holiday's Act that were identified in 2016, when it was discovered former District Health Boards were not paying staff correctly, including doctors, nurses and health care assistances. Dr Mike Shepherd, Health New Zealand's Acting Deputy Chief Executive Northern Region spoke to Lisa Owen.

Checkpoint can reveal that Health New Zealand has spent more than $130 million fixing up faux pas with its holiday pay. It all stems from issues related to the Holiday's Act that were identified in 2016, when it was discovered former District Health Boards were not paying staff correctly, including doctors, nurses and health care assistances. Reporter Jimmy Ellingham spoke to Lisa Owen.

Health New Zealand wants to knock 20,000 elective surgeries off its waiting lists by outsourcing thousands of simple cases to private hospitals and getting public sector doctors to work more hours. Anusha Bradey reports.

Just when I thought the issue of pay parity couldn't get any more confusing, the Government has made it so. Yesterday, the coalition government moved under urgency in Parliament to raise the threshold for proving work has been historically undervalued when making a pay equity claim. Under the new legislation, any current claims would be stopped and need to restart under the new higher threshold to show genuine gender discrimination and make sure the comparator settings were right. So 33 current claims will be stopped as a result. ACT's deputy leader and Minister for Workplace Relations Brooke Van Velden, the architect of the bill, said she supported pay equity, but the legislation introduced back in 2020 was problematic. “At the moment, people can choose a comparator for sex-based discrimination across the entire workforce. We're saying let's start firstly at home. If you can find people within your own employer, that would be a good starting point. If that comparison can't be made with a similar employer, that comparison's not there within your industry, if you can't find one there you've got to stop.” Which all sounds perfectly reasonable, because I've always thought how on earth do you compare completely different occupations? As van Velden told Parliament, Health New Zealand admin and clerical staff, as an example, have been compared to mechanical engineers. Health New Zealand librarians have been compared to transport engineers and Oranga Tamariki's social workers have been compared to air traffic controllers. I can't get my head around that at all. Equally, van Velden makes an interesting case about how wide-ranging and unwieldy claims can be drawing in vast numbers of employers. But the Government is moving or has moved so quickly, there's no Select Committee on the bill and as Thomas Coughlan points out in the Herald, officials didn't have time to write up a regulatory impact statement – which is an irony considering the changes were made by Brooke van Velden who is responsible for creating the regulatory impact statement. So before MPs vote on a bill they can have a look at the regulatory impact statement. How much is it going to cost? What are the effects? What are the wide-ranging impacts of introducing this legislation? They don't have that, and didn't have that when they went to vote last night. And as Thomas Coughlan concludes in his piece in the Herald, if the government cannot publish official papers that explain why this is a good idea, the public can be forgiven for concluding this is because it isn't one. It's the optics for me. Absolute optics. How can National champion pay parity in 2020 and champion the very legislation that they're now amending, and then say no, it's unworkable, unsustainable? They actually thought it was a jolly good idea in 2017. National began the process of amending the equal pay legislation in 2016. There's excerpts from speeches to Parliament back in 2020 when the equal pay legislation was introduced doing the rounds on Facebook, and quotes Nicola Willis saying this was a process National kicked off in the last government. “A bill was drafted, things were ready to go, and then there was a change of government – that's when Labour and New Zealand First formed the coalition. So my colleague Denise Lee, who believes very passionately in the concept of equal pay and pay equity, took a member's bill to this Parliament to progress pay equity in the absence of the new government where National had left off.” So she's taken credit for legislation that she now says is unsustainable and un-workable. How can you do that? Well, you can do that when you've got a bloody great hole in your budget, can't you? Yesterday, she said what this is about is ensuring we're clear, transparent and fair to ensure that where those claims are made, they relate to gender based discrimination and that other issues to do with pay and working conditions are raised during the normal employment relations process. So either the bill that that she worked so assiduously on and took credit for in 2020 was drafted poorly, or she's completely changed her mind about its workability. Or they didn't see through what the implications might be? And again, when you pass bills under urgency, which that was in 2020 and which this is now, you get those gaps because you don't have time to look at the far-reaching consequences – remember, there's no regulatory impact statement. So it was passed under urgency in 2020. Maggie Barry, at the time a National MP, harrumphed about it and said, for heaven's sake with Covid going on, we're passing this under urgency, this is a nonsense. But she still voted for it, as did National. And now they're saying it's unsustainable and unworkable. What this looks like is National stepping back from legislation they worked on, recommended and pushed through the House, and in fact took credit for it when it passed, so they can balance their books. It gives their critics all sorts of opportunities to lambast the government for stealing from the poorest paid workers to give rebates to wealthy landlords and tax cuts to the wealthy pricks. I actually happen to agree with the restrictions that Brooke van Velden is imposing, I think that they make sense. But it's a unique gift that this government has to make something right look so very, very wrong. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Senior doctors traded scrubs for placards on Thursday as thousands walked off the job for 24 hours, many braving foul weather on picket lines around the country. They are locked in a bitter dispute with Te Whatu Ora over pay and conditions, with more than 5000 senior doctors on strike until 11:59pm. Dr Richard Sullivan, Chief Clinical Officer for Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora spoke to Lisa Owen.

The Health Minister is standing by the current pay offer to senior doctors. Thousands of planned procedures have been delayed following yesterday's strike action, while Health New Zealand is applying to the Employment Relations Authority for urgent facilitation. Union members have told Newstalk ZB their pay rates aren't keeping up with the private sector or with Australia. But Simeon Brown told Mike Hosking the pay offer is "credible" given Health New Zealand only has so much money to go around. He says the health budget has to cover hospital services, GPs, aged care, and a range of other things, and there's pressure across the board. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The senior doctor's union says a pay increase offered in negotiations with Health New Zealand doesn't seem to have changed. About 5,000 senior doctors have been striking today, after eight months of failed bargaining. Health Minister Simeon Brown is urging members to resume talks. Salaried Medical Specialists Association executive director, Sarah Dalton, says what's being offered won't attract or retain talent. "What would be really helpful would be for the Minister to think about what funds they make available to Te Whatu Ora to help them sort this out." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over 4000 medical procedures are on hold today while 5000 senior doctors strike for better working conditions. This comes after eight months of failed negotiations with Health New Zealand. The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists says it's not going to fill workforce gaps without major improvements to pay and conditions. Health NZ Chief Clinical Officer Doctor Richard Sullivan told Mike Hosking waitlist times for procedures will now stretch out further. He says the more than 4000 procedures which have been delayed will impact on getting people earlier access to care. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

About five-thousand senior doctors are striking until midnight in a bid to get more of them on the roster. This comes after eight months of failed negotiations with Health New Zealand. The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists says it's not going to fill workforce gaps without major improvements to pay and conditions. President Katie Ben told Ryan Bridge salaries aren't competitive enough for doctors to want to stay in the country. She says more doctors need to be recruited into New Zealand and ones that train here need to be kept. Ben says they often work 10 hour days and then stay on call for 14 hours overnight. She says they're working non-stop through the day as there's not enough staff for any breaks. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Despite reports of critical levels of vacancies for senior doctor positions, Taupō hospital now has accreditation to train rural doctors. It will be the first North Island hospital to receive accreditation to deliver the training. Meanwhile senior doctors are still planning to strike on Thursday, despite a new offer from Health New Zealand. Health Minister Simeon Brown talks to Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A report commisioned by Health New Zealand warns its current management of its hospitals and other facilities is so poor, it cannot effectively plan for upgrades or replacements, among other issues. RNZ's Phil Pennington spoke with Ingrid Hipkiss.

Transgender researchers are disappointed Health New Zealand has been told to stop using the term "pregnant people" in favour of "pregnant women". The coalition has told the agency the use of inclusive language is confusing for some people - directing it to use "sex-specific language" from now on. While the move has drawn criticism from some academics, researchers and midwives are in agreement that an 'and-and' approach is probably best. Political reporter Anneke Smith has more.

The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists says the pay offer from Health New Zealand would have amounted to a pay cut, when inflation is taken into consideration. Executive director Sarah Dalton spoke to Corin Dann.

Tonight on The Panel, Wallace Chapman is joined by panellists Madison Burgess-Smith & Tim Batt. The trio discuss the government's directive to Health New Zealand to use women instead of pregnant people.

In today's episode, the government has directed Health New Zealand to use the term 'pregnant woman' instead of 'pregnant people', the President of El Salvador has met with Donald Trump in the White House to discuss the U.S. administration's mass deportations, Corelogic has found that in about 20 percent of the country, it could be cheaper to buy a house, the number of people studying to become teachers has jumped after several years of low enrolment, and RNZ music's Tony Stamp tips who will win tonight's Taite Music award.

Associate Health Minister Casey Costello has issued a directive to Health New Zealand to use the term "pregnant women" instead of "pregnant people" in its health communications. New Zealand College of Midwives chief executive Alison Eddy spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

The associate health minister, Casey Costello, has issued a directive to Health New Zealand to refer to "pregnant women" rather than "pregnant people". Labour leader Chris Hipkins spoke to Corin Dann.

The government has directed Health New Zealand to say "pregnant women" instead of "pregnant people" in its health communications. Political reporter Anneke Smith spoke to Corin Dann.

New Zealanders are being urged to make sure they're up to date with their measles jabs. As school holidays get underway, travellers are being reminded of outbreaks in Australia, the US, Canada, the UK and Vietnam. There are no cases in New Zealand currently. Health NZ's acting national public health service clinical director protection, Dr Matthew Reid, says there's a risk of measles spreading quickly through New Zealand if Kiwis bring it back home. "Because our vaccination coverage is not as good as it should be, measles could then spread quite easily." LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wait times for urgent, non-urgent and surveillance colonoscopies all grew last year after Health New Zealand failed to keep up with demand. Ruth Hill reports.

Hundreds more health workers were assaulted at work last year, according to Health New Zealand data, with Auckland central and Waikato districts seeing the biggest spikes. Reporter Lucy Xia has more.

The Health Minister's confident two of the Government targets will improve this year. Health New Zealand data shows child vaccinations, cancer treatment times, and ED stay lengths have improved, but wait times for elective treatments and first specialist assessments have lengthened. Simeon Brown told Mike Hosking the wait times are of particular concern. He says the targets are in place to highlight these issues, and more money is being allocated to facilitate. Brown told Hosking the elective boost aims to ease the situation by outsourcing electives to the private sector, and $50 million has been allocated to the boost. The Health Minister also says problems at Gisborne and Nelson hospitals are being addressed. Gisborne's facing critical staff shortages, while senior staff have spoken out with concerns about the level of care in Nelson. Health New Zealand staff are now in Nelson, putting a plan together with local clinicians, while in Gisborne, jobs are being recruited for. Brown says there are challenges at both hospitals, and solutions are on the way. He says some unions are trying to make a lot of noise and is asking them to work with Health New Zealand. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A woman who was referred to Nelson Hospital's gynaecology department waited more than a year to get a first appointment and by then she was so desperate she'd already gone private. Health New Zealand sent a crisis team to Nelson after several senior hospital doctors went public with their concerns about excessively long wait times, under staffing, and lives being put at risk. Aleisha Hosie spoke to Lisa Owen.

Health New Zealand has admitted "significant failings" and apologised for the experience of an 11-year-old girl who was restrained and mistaken for a 20-year-old. Children's Commissioner Dr Claire Achmad spoke to Corin Dann.

Health New Zealand has apologised and says it's a top priority to make sure a case of mistaken identity never happens again. Police mistook an 11-year-old for a distressed woman in her 20s - and she was restrained and given drugs meant for adults at a Waikato mental health facility. Chief clinical officer Richard Sullivan says it's clear human error was a factor - and they need to learn from this. "What's clear here is - our staff were doing everything in good faith, working hard, there's no doubt some human error occurred here. But we just need to learn from that." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A patient information system lauded by Health New Zealand is among a raft of digital projects put on hold. Phil Pennington spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

Doctors want more information about a national patient record database that Health New Zealand plans to launch mid year. Katie Todd reports.

A review confirms better access to care should be a key priority. Health New Zealand's released a Clinical Quality and Safety Review using data from the past decade. It reveals the number of people waiting more than four months to see a specialist tripled between 2020 and 2023. Royal College of GPs Medical Director Luke Bradford told Mike Hosking fewer people are also choosing not to access care, especially since Covid. He's concerned there's been a drop off in immunisations and cancer screenings. However, there is a belief the quality of care is getting better despite taking longer to access it. Bradford says there's been a decrease in surgical complications and better experiences had by patients in the system. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Access to timely primary and hospital healthcare has significantly deteriorated. Health New Zealand's released a Clinical Quality and Safety Review - using data from the past decade. It reveals numbers of people waiting more than four months to see a specialist tripled between 2020 and 2023. Chief clinical officer Richard Sullivan says Covid played a role and numbers are stabilising. But he says there's a long way to go. He also explained one target is 95 percent of patients waiting less than four months - but we're on about 60 percent, so improving that is a big focus. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Health New Zealand's commitment to boosting specialist palliative care for dying children is under scrutiny, after promises it was actively recruiting more staff, despite not advertising any jobs. Anusha Bradley reports.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Tuesday, 25 March 2025, Health New Zealand's Deputy Chief Executive Cath Cronin speaks to Ryan to explain why an 11 year old girl was mistakenly admitted to a mental health facility. Eden Park vs Quay Park stadium - council officials have had their say, and why taxpayers may have to pay for it. Plus - why your Lego or wine collection might be a seriously good investment. Plus, on the Huddle, Ali Jones defends making inquiries about mobility carparks in Christchurch. Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Health New Zealand has apologised to a New Plymouth woman who was forced to find the cash to pay for a private ultrasound, after being told she'd have to wait six months under the public system. Taranaki Whanganui reporter Robin Martin has more.

Dunedin's mayor says he is frustrated by the slow progress on building the new Dunedin Hospital despite close to a quarter of the budget already being spent. In its October Ministerial update, Health New Zealand figures show more than $449 million has already been spent on the project out of its $1.88 billion budget. Health New Zealand says the money spent has all helped to drive the project forward, but a former Health Minister is concerned more delays and budget blowouts are on their way. Tess Brunton has more.

The Health Minister is looking to ensure procurement rules were followed in a big Health New Zealand contract. The agency awarded a $2 million contract to MBI Healthcare Technologies in April 2023. It was partly founded by ACC senior executive John Bennett, who left the company in 2020, but had been an advisor to Health New Zealand since 2022. Simeon Brown told Mike Hosking he also wants to ensure procurement rules are being followed today. He says this is taxpayers' money – they expect to be getting value for money from every dollar and every contract. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My long-held suspicion, oft produced for the Prime Minister on Tuesdays, that the public service might well be working against the Government seems to have been laid bare in the Deloitte report into the failed health system. As you will be aware, we are going back to a board from a commissioner. But what the report seems to indicate is the board or commissioner is not the issue. The issue is incompetence. The fact a board was replaced is not about whether it's a board. It's about the fact they never had control of the money, they didn't have a plan, and they were hopeless. Hopelessness is hopelessness, no matter what the shape of it is structurally. More worryingly is the reportage that tells us that what they wanted wasn't adhered to. It wasn't listened to and it wasn't acted on. In theory, a good governance structure would see this pushback and fix it. But you had incompetence and rejection dovetailing, with the end result being the chaos that has ensued. The report infers the Government would have been better sticking with 20 health boards. My argument was always in a country the size of New Zealand, four DHB's felt about right. A centralised system always had Soviet vibes about it, and then when your centralised system was overseen by buffoons, you got the result we did. Here's a critical line from the report - "the centre made requests, the district ignored them". That's sabotage. There were no supporting action plans, ownership, budget impacts, tracking, reporting, or governance. Health New Zealand did not have the right executive or board level controls. This is yet more Labour Party incompetency – all ideology, no delivery. By the time you add the Brian Roche report into the public service to this, surely we have a case that shows not only do we have a bloated structure of too many people, but many of those in that bloating are hopeless and/or undermining what is trying to be done. DOGE, anyone? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In a speech Simeon Brown laid out his top five priorities for health, including reducing emergency department wait times, clearing a back log of elective surgeries and stabilising the governance of Health New Zealand; including reinstating a board. Health Minister Simeon Brown spoke to Lisa Owen.

Health New Zealand is scrambling to fix contracts that gave it no power to check if people have been misusing sensitive health data or not. Phil Pennington spoke to Corin Dann.

People referred to the public health system gastro departments for colonoscopies or other exams are waiting months for an appointment even when they have symptoms that could be a sign of bowel cancer or other disease. Checkpoint has spoken to people experiencing worrying symptoms who are waiting for a colonoscopy or gastroscopy, while hearing nothing from Health New Zealand. Health NZ has told us it has staff recruitment drives, along with other ideas under way, to cope with an increase in gastro referrals. Jimmy Ellingham reports.

People around the country are having to wait months or even years to have crucial surveillance colonoscopies due to staff shortages. Health New Zealand said it's trying to schedule procedures as soon as possible. But it all comes against a backdrop of top health officials resigning, with some observers describing the health system as a shambles. Luka Forman has more.

On today's episode, the United States defence secretary Pete Hegseth says Ukraine cannot expect to return to its 2014 borders and has downplayed the chance of it becoming a member of NATO, the union representing 25,000 Health New Zealand workers has launched legal action to halt sweeping job cuts at the agency, a dispute between Israel and Hamas over the release of hostages has pushed the Gaza ceasefire deal closer to collapse, a raft of changes have been proposed for the Fisheries Act - including removing public access to on-boat camera footage through the Official Information Act, and McDonalds New Zealand is not ruling out appealing a decision from Commissioners, who decided not to grant consent to open a restaurant in Wanaka.

The union representing 25,000 Health New Zealand workers has launched legal action to halt sweeping job cuts at the agency. Public Service Association Acting National Secretary Fleur Fitzsimons spoke to Corin Dann.

MPs have gone head to head on health in a special debate about the recent resignation of Health New Zealand's top boss. Political reporter Anneke Smith has more.