Podcasts about middlemore

On today's podcast:  Three Houses Downed voting song Birth names and whyyy John Campbell & Jack Tame join us pre-election Woman at bottomless brunches Omgoss Hassles as a kid   For more, follow our socials Instagram: Flava Radio Facebook: Flava Radio Tik Tok: Flava Radio  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I don't think I am alone in thinking we have got about nowhere in this scandal around race based health prioritisation. Sadly it has, entirely predictably, descended into a race scrap where by those who quite rightly ask questions about a highly contentious issue are simply called racist. Being called racist is the laziest of responses sadly rolled out on queue to often these days by people who have run out of sensible arguments. If you support putting people higher up a ladder or queue based on race say so. We can disagree - but at least we know where we stand. All that the Government have done so far this week is dig themselves a monumental hole where by they end up looking like they can't even explain what it is they are trying to explain. The doctor from Auckland Health on Monday started it on this show, a doctor …seemingly in support …in the middle of this so called dilemma on the hospital floor. Unable to articulate just what it was they were doing other than telling us to talk to others and it had something to do with an algorithm. The Health Minister was tying herself in knots over whether it was an Auckland thing or a national thing. It seemed confined to Northland and Auckland and yet in the house on Tuesday when asked how many hospitals were involved she said Auckland and Middlemore - neither of which are in Northland Then the Prime Minister decided that citing other criteria like rural living and poverty somehow made up for the fact race was part of it as well. The critical part he missed or doesn't get is the simple fact living rurally is not race based. Being poor isn't race based, and they are separate categories So if you are poor and lingering or in the country and lingering, you are prioritised as you should be, you might be Māori, you might not be. Because that isn't the criteria. Race, as a separate criteria, then gives you the leg up so many are now upset about. You get another crack at the queue; you on race alone get one more chance to be advanced. A shot no one other than you gets and that is the bit that is wrong. Anyone can be chronic in their condition, anyone can be poor or rural or old or young or anyone of the other criteria in that we are all equal. But we are not equal on race - and there is your crime. It's either a scandal because even they don't get it and therefore can't explain it, or it's a scandal because they do get it and they just can't argue their way out of it.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As my son marched off for a lung X-ray for a chest infection yesterday, I wondered just how dire the health system was going to get this winter.  As the weather starts to cool, many are picking up change-of-season coughs and colds and when I look at what happened in post-Covid winters overseas, I worry about how bad it might get here too.  Health NZ says it's ‘bracing' for a tough winter. But it's not just sickness that may come our way which is worrying, but our ability to cope with it. There is the state of our hospitals, the workforce of frontline health workers, the shortage of nurses, the overworked doctors and the lack of GP's in many regions. It was reported that Health NZ's Chair Rob Campbell was warning that ‘the reformed health system was still grappling with ‘systemic problems' that would affect the level of service it could give in the colder months.' Systemic problems. Why are they not being identified immediately and the troubleshooting to fix it underway?  Remember the waiting time debacle last year? Hours upon hours of people going unseen, some leaving without ever getting attended to, in very publicised cases a couple of deaths due to being overlooked in chaotic and crowded EDs. It was just October that headlines read “Emergency wait times worst on record..”, “Long wait times in ED's lead to deaths..”, “Middlemore abnormally busy..”, “Damning Middlemore report..”,  “Waikato Hospital wait times worst in 5 years..”, ”Crazy wait times continue..”. So does that give us much hope for this coming winter? Because what's changed? Just because something is not on the news anymore doesn't mean it is not still happening in places.  Health NZ [was quoted] saying, "We will be operating in a position where some of our physical resources in emergency departments are not adequate to the demand and our staffing levels are not adequate.  "We can't promise to fix those in the short term but for this winter we're making the emergency provisions that we think are going to be adequate." So even four months after the headlines of worst-ever waiting times, they say they still can't promise a fix. It is reported there are eight emergency department 'hotspots' in Whangārei, Auckland, Middlemore, Tauranga, Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch, and Invercargill hospitals.  Well, they're all major hospitals in major communities, so let's hope extra resourcing is poured into those areas for a start. Opposition Health spokesperson Dr. Shane Reti told journalists ‘the system was already in crisis.. with a “tired and strained” workforce, and he was worried this year's winter burden could come at a cost.' But we're already paying the price for neglected health care. New Zealand recorded an increase in deaths of 10 percent last year – partly attributable to all the sick people parked up unable to access healthcare during the pandemic with closed surgery and health services partly due to an ageing population and other factors.  But in a first-world country I think we should be able to expect a decent health service, and not be told it's going to be ‘adequate' at best.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Health Taskforce boss has admitted Middlemore Hospital's emergency department is overcrowded and dysfunctional. A scathing study carried out following the death of a patient at Middlemore earlier this year came back with 101 recommendations needed to get Aotearoa's healthcare wait lists, accessibility and equity back on track Speaking to Tova O'Brien taskforce chair and Chief Medical Officer of Counties Manukau DHB Andrew Connolly said he is concerned about the Middlemore situation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Earlier today we spoke to Stephanie Mead who told the story of how her mother died in Auckland hospital. She got in touch after our interview with Andrew Little yesterday, who refused to say whether he agreed with the findings of a report into the death of a woman who had presented at Middlemore - the report said the overloaded and under pressure health system failed her”. Sandy Grace also got in touch with us yesterday - four years ago he lost his son Callum when he was in hospital care. Sandy's son had Prader Willi syndrome, a genetic disorder that causes obesity, intellectual disability and shortness in height.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

No big city hospitals are meeting their target for treating emergency department patients within six hours.   A report into Middlemore Hospital described the emergency department as "dysfunctional, overcrowded and unsafe".  The report looked into the circumstances of a woman who left the overcrowded ED without being seen, and later died of a brain hemorrhage. Chair of the College of Emergency Medicine Kate Allan told Checkpoint the issues at Middlemore are being seen at other hospitals too. Health Minister Andrew Little said there is a lot of stress on the system.   

Those in the health sector say Middlemore's Emergency Department isn't the only one under serious pressure. A report has described Middlemore's ED as "dysfunctional, overcrowded and unsafe". Senior Emergency Medicine Doctor Elspeth Frascatore talks to Rowan Quinn.  

Questions to Ministers CHRISTOPHER LUXON to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all of her Government's statements and actions? BARBARA EDMONDS to the Minister of Finance: What recent reports has he seen on the New Zealand economy? NICOLA WILLIS to the Minister of Finance: Has he seen a report by ASB that "soaring living costs are expected to add roughly $110 per week to household budgets over the next 12 months"; if so, does he expect wages will keep up with that increase in the cost of living? ANGIE WARREN-CLARK to the Minister of Housing: What actions has the Government taken recently to address the housing infrastructure shortage? DAVID SEYMOUR to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all her Government's statements and actions? TAMATI COFFEY to the Minister for Small Business: What announcements has he made about supporting mental health and wellbeing for small businesses? JAN LOGIE to the Associate Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety: Has she seen the Human Rights Commission's Pacific Pay Gap Inquiry findings that in 2021 the pay gap for median hourly earnings of Pacific men compared to Pakeha men was 18.8 percent and for Pacific women compared to Pakeha men was 25.1 percent; if so, what, if anything, is she doing to reduce the Pacific pay gap? MARJA LUBECK to the Associate Minister of Education (School Operations): What reports has she seen on the delivery of the free healthy school lunches programme? Dr SHANE RETI to the Minister of Health: What is his response to the independent report into the death of a woman who left the Middlemore emergency department, which stated that Middlemore had "the worst-ever compliance with the Shorter Stays in ED health target for CMH during the month of June", and which other emergency departments, if any, also had their worst ever shorter stays in emergency department in June 2022? BROOKE VAN VELDEN to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by her statements on women's rights? TODD MULLER to the Minister of Agriculture: Does he support the Government's proposed agriculture emissions plan, which reportedly could reduce production from sheep and beef farms by 20 percent, and does he agree with Federated Farmers that the policy will "rip the guts out of small town New Zealand"? JO LUXTON to the Minister of Immigration: What recent announcements has he made about the next steps in the Government's plan to reconnect New Zealanders to the world?

Doctors say the Government is trying to put a gloss on a dire situation. A damning review into Middlemore Hospital has found its ED is dysfunctional and overcrowded, with senior doctors calling for a trainee teaching programme to be scrapped due to unsafe conditions. Health Minister Andrew Little says it's been a difficult winter and immigration settings will help solve it. But Resident Doctors' Association National President Deborah Powell told Mike Hosking immigration won't fix things. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So we have more proof today that our country is spluttering along driving on fumes after 20 years of rampant growth and immigration and insufficient spending on infrastructure. Yesterday, an independent report found Middlemore Hospital's Emergency Department was unsafe and, dysfunctional and that stems from the hospital being overcrowded. Put simply, it's not big enough for the population it serves. Meanwhile there are pay inequities and shortages of doctors and nurses, all because of a lack of long term planning on the staffing needed for a bigger population. So the facts are that our population grew by 1.4 percent a year in the 16 years to 1019. That's an extra 1 million people to cope with. But our infrastructure spending was minimised to keep our taxes low. And before you start hollering that they're not low. They have been. Especially when you factor in no long term capital gains tax. So the Infrastructure Commission believes we currently have a $100 billion dollar hole of infrastructure. Stuff missing or broken. Water, hospitals, housing and transport. And they also believe that we would need to spend another $100 billion dollars in infrastructure over the next 25 years. That's predicated on a net migration figure of $25,000 a year for the next 25 years. That's $200 billion dollars we need to budget for to be fit for purpose. All the political parties know this. They've known this for 20 years. They get briefing papers every year from staff pointing out how the emperor has no clothes on. Yet still they do nothing other than rearrange the deckchairs on the Titanic. They do nothing because to fix the problem would take higher taxes and borrowings and no one gets into the Beehive on that platform. Labour tried to have an immigration reset after the pandemic but that's quickly been shouted down. They've removed their self imposed migration cap and so the tap of people is slowly being turned back on. But the problem is that everything we've currently got is at breaking point. The Middlemore report says that it's only the extreme hard work and dedication of the staff is preventing further tragedies and they say it's not sustainable. There's a bill of neglect to pay. You can harangue a Health Minister for as long as you like but it's the entire country and our actions for decades that has caused this and I see no-one with the balls to get us out of it. You'd best prepare yourself for turning up to an Emergency Department in a tent in the carpark. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on The Huddle- We had David Farrar, Kiwiblog writer and Curia pollster, and Mike Munroe, former Labour Chief of Staff and current director at Mike Munroe Communications discuss the following topics: Gaurav Sharma has resigned, triggering a by-election and he says watch this space regarding a new party. Middlemore staff seem to be getting sick of the Government saying hospital short staffing is Covid related, these issues have been consistent for years. ASB now picking OCR will hit 5.25 percent - Grant Robertson quick to put out a press release saying inflation is easing - he's not wrong, but still a rough number to hear. How were the Reserve Bank's numbers so far off?  The final decision has been made made - AUT is closing its childcare centre. Couple of parents and the Tertiary union are pretty devastated but the uni says its not their priority. The Transport Minister seems very over the Restore Passenger Rail protestors closing down motorways every morning. 13 percent of people were flying to Perth, Honolulu and Tahiti without taking a bag so Air New Zealand  has got rid of that option. But 13 percent of customers using that option is still surely significant? All of these topics were discussed today on The Huddle! LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Middlemore hospital has been undergoing a wait time crisis, with people being unable to receive medical care for hours after arrival. This has become more apparent after a five page report was released that confirmed Middlemore hospital was dysfunctional, overcrowded, and unsafe.  The Chair of Australasian College for Emergency Medicine, Kate Allan, agreed with the contents of the review that indicated wait times were a significant issue, and that these problems have persisted for years. According to Kate, many factors are contributing to this current crisis, including overcrowded facilities and system blocks preventing people from being admitted properly. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Opinion: Oh Andrew Little, how you frustrate me... Let me count the ways.  First and most obviously, not answering a basic question is frustrating.  Did the overloaded and under-pressure health system fail a woman who died after presenting at Middlemore? Because a report into her death says in black and white, “the overloaded and under pressure health system failed her”. Andrew Little refused to say. Sure he provided context but so does the report and within that context, this is the conclusion it drew.  You either agree or contest the findings of the report. Either of those things are fine but you don't get to do neither. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Senior doctors at Middlemore say working conditions are so unsafe, a trainee teaching programme should be scrapped. A letter signed by 60 doctors is asking for the hospital's training accreditation to be revoked. It also follows a damning review which found its ED was dysfunctional and overcrowded. Association of Salaried Medical Specialists Executive Director Sarah Dalton told Kate Hawkesby they're at the point where they can do nothing more to make the service safe. She says this is a cry for proper resourcing and a road map out of these problems, and that Middlemore has lost sight of clinically informed decision making LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A report has flagged serious concerns about Middlemore Hospital's Emergency Department. The review was commissioned to look into the death of a woman after she left Middlemore ED without being seen. The woman turned up to the hospital in June with a headache but left a short time later in the face of huge delays and later died. The independent review found only half of all patients are seen within six hours. However, it could not say whether the woman would have survived if she had been seen by staff. Kate Allan is the New Zealand chair of the College of Emergency Medicine and is an ED specialist. She talks to Rowan Quinn.

An emergency department leader says the increased overcrowding at EDs has been happening year on year and is entirely predictable. A report into Middlemore Hospital's ED found only half of all patients at the department are seen within six hours, describing it as "dysfunctional, overcrowded and unsafe". It follows the death of a woman who left because of delays in being seen. Dr John Bonning, spokesperson for the College of Emergency Medicine, told Morning Report that the solutions lie in the whole hospital, not solely in ED. He says hospitals like Middlemore running at 98 per cent capacity can't function properly. Dr Bonning says more money is needed for workers, and new hospitals.

Systemic failures such as at Middlemore Hospital's ED are rife among urgent care clinics too, according to industry leaders. A review into the death of a woman after she left the hospital's overcrowded emergency department without being seen has identified serious problems. It found only half of all patients are seen within six hours, and described Middlemore as "dysfunctional, overcrowded and unsafe". Royal College of Urgent Care co-founder, and White Cross director of urgent care Dr Alistair Sullivan spoke to Guyon Espiner.

There's yet to be any word on what action - if any - the government will take in response to a scathing report on the state of Middlemore Hospital. A review into the death of a woman after she left the hospital's overcrowded emergency department without being seen has identified serious problems. It found only half of all patients are seen within six hours, and described Middlemore as "dysfunctional, overcrowded and unsafe". Health Minister Andrew Little spoke to Guyon Espiner.

The Health Minister says the health system can't be completely blamed for a patient death at Auckland's Middlemore Hospital. An independent inquiry was launched after the death of a patient who had left Middlemore's ED after being told it would take hours to be seen. The five-page document released to the Local Democracy Reporting Service describes the hospital as dysfunctional, overcrowded and unsafe. But Andrew Little told Mike Hosking the report found the woman probably would have died, no matter how the hospital responded. “That particular case was unpredictable and unavoidable.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"If he won't accept there is a crisis in the health system, I'm telling you, Andrew, on June 15 at Middlemore Hospital there was a crisis, very clear," Shane Reti said.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Health Minister Andrew Little flat-out fails to answer the first and arguable most important question from Tova O'Brien on Tuesday morning following a damning report establishing that New Zealand's emergency departments are critically overcrowded, unsafe and unsustainable. The review looked into the death of a woman, who had a brain aneurysm after showing up at Middlemore Hospital's ED with a headache. She left before being seen. The ED was over-capacity, the waiting room was significantly overcrowded and the wait for non-urgent cases was hours.  While the report was inconclusive whether she could have been helped - the unnamed author did conclude that “the overloaded and under pressure health system failed her”.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Remember the free G.P scheme the Government set up to try ease the pressure on Middlemore's E.D? A review has recommended against rolling it out again, saying it was high cost and there's limited evidence of any benefits. With us now is Bryan Betty, the Medical Director at the College of GP's. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

WorkSafe's been accused of being 'all talk' after it issued a warning to construction companies that it's getting tough on those who put workers lives at risk. Some workers are still in Auckland's Middlemore hospital being treated for burns after an explosion at a construction site a week ago. Since January last year, at least two construction workers have died every month and one person a day has been seriously injured. WorkSafe's chief executive says too many people are dying due to a lack of care in the construction sector, and there needs to be significant change. Anei te kai ripoata a Rachel Graham.

A fake doctor who worked at Auckland's Middlemore Hospital has the whole health sector on alert. Yuvaraj Krishnan worked in the hospital's respiratory unit for six months. The Ministry, Health Minister and Middlemore and are remaining tight-lipped while a police investigation is underway. Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand says it was already considering clear, standard employment practices for hospitals around the country, but acknowledges they need to be robust. Sam Hazledine is the founder of MedRecruit, which is Australasia's largest medical recruitment company. He talks to Nick Truebridge. [embed] https://players.brightcove.net/6093072280001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6310755188112

Middlemore Hospital is apologising to patients who were seen by a man pretending to be a doctor there for six months. A criminal investigation has been launched after the man was able to work there, seeing patients, without the proper qualifications. The hospital, now part of Te Whatu Ora/Health NZ is investigating, including contacting every patient he saw. Health correspondent Rowan Quinn joins Lisa Owen with the details.  

At one of the busiest hospitals in the country, there are three times more patients with the flu, compared to those with Covid. Middlemore in Auckland isn't the only hospital under major strain, with the flu season arriving early this year. Children and the elderly are among the worst hit, while another wave of Omicron cases starts to surge. Amy Williams reports.

Over Matariki weekend some general practitioners in south and east Auckland will be taking up the slack for Middlemore's slammed emergency department, staying open longer and providing some free appointments. The DHB initiative follows the death of a woman who left ED because of long wait times, only to return critically ill. But a lot of GPs are under the pump and short-staffed too. And east Auckland with a population of more than 100,000 people, does not have a single 24/7 health centre after Counties Manukau DHB cut funding for the East Care overnight service in 2020. The clinic's run by Care Group and its chief executive Benedict Hefford talks to Lisa Owen.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Health Minister says the system is under pressure.Hospitals are struggling, with Counties Manukau DHB paying local GPs to see patients to take pressure off Middlemore Hospital emergency departments over the weekend. And a 50 year-old woman died with a brain bleed last week after allegedly being told by Middlemore staff there would be an eight hour wait before being examined.Andrew Little told Heather du Plessis-Allan everything possible's being done to help.“That's why the hospital management in each of hospitals is taking a range of actions to alleviate that pressure, particularly on their EDs.”He says it was predicted to be under pressure with Covid-19 and flu strains that haven't been seen for three years.“What we not entirely predicted was the level of staff absenteeism and all of those things are putting pressure on the system at the moment.”LISTEN ABOVE

Why are we still firing nurses over the Covid jab?We have a shortage of 4000 nurses.We have a report that a woman died in Middlemore emergency department of a brain bleed last Wednesday morning because there was an 8 hour wait to see a doctor.We have surgeries being delayed another month in Wellington hospital because there aren't enough nurses to cope.Palmerston North Hospital is so short staffed it's being described as unsafe.Christchurch Hospital's general team has never cared for so many people at once before.                    We are paying south Auckland GPs $1400 an hour to take pressure of Middlemore.And we're still standing these nurses down form their work.And by the way, we're not talking about anti-vaxxers. We're talking about nurses who've had two jabs but simply don't want to get a third. So what? About a million Kiwis did exactly the same thing: got two jabs, skipped the third.As I say, we have a shortage of 4000 nurses and we've stood down another 518 for the booster.If you go into hospital tonight with a brain bleed, do you want a nurse?  Or do you only want a nurse who's been boosted?If you say you only want a boosted nurse, are you then prepared to take a chance with your life and wait 8 hours so you can see a boosted nurse?What I'm really surprised to hear is that the nurses' union - the NZNO supports this.Their members do not want to work alongside nurses who haven't had the booster.And yet look at how many medical staff haven't had the flu jab: 46 percent.This is so crazy that I can't quite get my head around it: that we would rather delay operations and leave people living in pain without a hip replacement and we would rather make it even harder for our hospitals to cope right now than let nurses stay at work just because they wouldn't get a third jab. Crazy.

The government is considering widening free access to flu vaccines to help the health system which is struggling, not even one month into winter.  GPs in Counties Manukau offered free visits over the weekend - and will do so again this coming long weekend - to try reduce the load on Middlemore's services. At the other end of the north island, most planned surgeries in the Capital and Coast and Hutt Valley DHBs have also been delayed for four more weeks right off the back of a two week delay. These DHBs refused interviews with RNZ but the Minister of Health Andrew Little did. He told Morning Report Covid-19 numbers are higher than authorities anticipated, and the flu season hit earlier. 

On Monday's Lloyd Burr Live, Wilhelmina Shrimpton discussed the stress being placed on New Zealand's health system - and how it's pushing the workforce to breaking point. Over the weekend, GPs in south Auckland helped to pick up the load from the straining Middlemore hospital - offering extra clinics.  Dr. Bryan Betty from the NZ Royal College of GPs joined Wilhelmina to talk about the extra strain on hospitals, and how Aotearoa is coping with its current health crisis.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's pretty tough in the emergency departments right now. Hospitals all over the country are pleading with people to leave the ED for life and death situations only.I guess those of us who are lucky enough to enjoy pretty good health don't need to be told that; it says emergency in the name doesn't it?Unfortunately for emergency departments, their front doors are open to all and anyone who turns up asking for treatment is eventually going to get seen.And of course it's free, so it's the doctor's clinic of choice for people who either can't afford a GP, or can't get an appointment when they want, or prefer to spend the money on something else.It's the busiest time of the year right now and Counties Manukau DHB is so strapped, it's offering cash to local GPs to take patients off their hands.$250 for each Middlemore patient they see on a Friday night, or in the day on weekends.And $350 a pop on weekend nights when the ED is flooded out with drunks, and people who've got into fights with drunks.It's just crazy, isn't it?The way our system works right now, with GPs charging $30, $40 or $50 for an appointment, a lot of people can't afford to see a primary care doctor.So instead of a 15 minute consultation, a prescription and off home, people can end up in an expensive hospital bed costing upwards of a grand a night.Primary care really is the poor cousin of our health system; it's potentially the fence at the top of the cliff.GPs are undervalued and underpaid, and a properly functioning primary system, with cheap if not free access, would not only save us a fortune it would save a lot of grief too.

Crisis meetings and investigations are continuing, after Middlemore ED's long wait times appear to have cost a life on Wednesday. Counties Manukau District Health Board says patient presentations are up a full 17 percent on pre-Covid levels, in 2019. That's an extra 400 patients a week, and still going up, while staff numbers are down. Katie Todd reports.

I'm not sure the Health Minister's office has its priorities right.Last night we learned that a healthy 50 year old woman died in Middlemore hospital on Wednesday, reportedly because the emergency department is so stretched they couldn't attend to her quickly enough.She came in with a severe headache at 1am on Wednesday, they told her the wait to be seen was 8 hours.  Because Middlemore is being slammed at the moment, she left the ED in frustration, came back at 4am, was tubed up, rushed in to ICU and died of a brain bleed.When the Herald asked the DHB about it yesterday afternoon, the DHB claimed the woman was still alive in ICU.  She wasn't.  She had already died.  The Herald forced them to reveal the truth.As soon as we heard what happened, we knew this was serious.Middlemore staff have been warning this kind of thing would happen.  They told us it was frightening to work without enough staff.  They told us they're being hit by record numbers of people turning up. They don't have nearly enough beds. 71 people at one time last week were waiting for beds. The hospital went into the red setting.  And last Friday – one week ago – doctors warned us delays would lead to deaths. So this show immediately emailed Andrew Little's office to ask him to talk to us today. They declined.But this is what Andrew Little's team were tweeting only hours after the Middlemore story broke on the Herald: "Free pads and tampons in schools. Period. This was the right thing to do for girls and young women. We campaigned on it. We've now delivered it. Elections matter, your vote matters, you can change New Zealand. [love heart emoji]"A woman died. Probably because our hospitals are dangerously under staffed.  The Minister will not talk about it.But his team are crowing about his success in handing out free tampons and periods.Is there something wrong with the priorities here?It feels like that to me.

The Nurses Union says it has been warning severe staff shortages have affected patient safety at hospitals long before a woman died after leaving Middlemore's Emergency Department because of long wait times. The woman left the hospital in the early hours of Wednesday morning, after being told it would be hours before she could be seen by a doctor. She soon returned and later died in intensive care. Nurses Organisation president Anne Daniels told Morning Report health workers were aware staff shortages could cause a death. Daniels says it has become impossible to keep everyone safe in hospitals.

Medical experts say patients are unable to get the care they need because of overcrowded hospital departments.Leaked emails show Middlemore's emergency department in South Auckland saw more than 120 patients above usual two nights in a row this week.Australasian College for Emergency Medicine's Kate Allan told Heather du Plessis-Allan says unprecedented volumes of patients are being seen nationwide.“So we do see huge volumes in winter, there's no doubt. But this has been a really fast and rapid spike very early in winter.”LISTEN ABOVE

Our ninth guest is Emily Middlemore! She has had Androgenetic Alopecia for some time and has great advice and many laughs to share. She utilizes her Instagram to be authentically herself and boy does that shine through! We absolutely loved chatting with her.    Where you can find Emily:  https://instagram.com/happy_hair_health?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=   Follow and support Those Bald Chicks: https://direct.me/thosebaldchicks

Health services are under increasing pressure with surgeries being postponed and patients being transferred to ease the load on hospitals. Middlemore Hospital is under increasing pressure as it copes with an influx of influenza patients on top of its Covid-19 workload. Jonty Dine reports.

The south Auckland suburb of Papakura was rocked by a shooting this afternoon... right outside its the district court, next to the police station. The incident unfolded just before one-o-clock, and one person was taken to Middlemore hospital in a critical condition. Devika Sharma manages the Unichem pharmacy over the road. She told our reporter Katie Todd she was right in the thick of a busy day at work, when she realised something had happened.

Hospitals around the country are slammed with covid, staff shortages and an onslaught of seasonal ills. Dunedin Hospital's closed to visitors due to a high number of coronavirus cases and concerns it could spread. This week Christchurch Hospital had to put off some major surgeries because of a large of number of very unwell people needing to be admitted pushing it to 112% occupancy. And it's averaging 200 staff off sick everyday. Auckland's Middlemore hospital is also creaking at the seams. Sarah Dalton from the Association of Salaried Medical Professionals joins Lisa Owen. [embed] https://players.brightcove.net/6093072280001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6307232277112

About 30 percent of women giving birth at Middlemore Hospital have Covid-19.  It's prompted more calls for pregnant women to get vaccinated.  Middlemore Obstetrics Director Sarah Tout told Andrew Dickens they've taken precautions – and aren't worried about people's safety. “We've been in communication with our colleagues in Australia who obviously were ahead of us with this Omicron surge, and this is exactly what we were expecting.” LISTEN ABOVE 

Auckland hospitals are dealing with far more Covid patients than they predicted in even their worst case scenarios. Large parts of ordinary care have been put on hold to help the health system cope with the volume of patients - and the number of staff off sick. And about half of all children turning up to Middlemore's emergency department have the virus. RNZ's Health Correspondent Rowan Quinn reports

An Auckland emergency doctor says her exhausted colleagues are expecting a busy couple of weeks even as hospital cases appear close to peaking. Latest DHB figures show up to 40 percent of people at Middlemore's ED have the virus, with a quarter in Auckland City Hospital and a fifth at North Shore. Elspeth Frascatore works in one of the city's EDs and represents the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists. She told RNZ's health correspondent Rowan Quinn emergency teams are used to working hard but the past few weeks have been another level some days.

Doctors are stepping up to cover nursing shifts as staff absences reach a critical point at Middlemore Hospital. There were 195 people in the south Auckland hospital with Covid yesterday - a total of 520 in hospital across the city and 696 nationwide. But at Middlemore alone hundreds of staff have been off because of Covid. RNZ Health Correspondent Rowan Quinn spoke Corin Dann.

Half of a big South Auckland elective surgery centre has been closed with staff diverted to help Middlemore Hospital cope with soaring Omicron cases. There are 142 Covid-19 patients in the hospital, far more than in any other. About one in four turning up to the Emergency Department are testing positive for Covid-19. Health correspondent Rowan Quinn reports

As Omicron infections escalate, so is concern from Pasifika outreach organisations about whether Government and public health initiatives endorsing home isolation, and community care are going to keep Covid positive people, who live in large households, safe. Some hospitals services are strained, and then there's the sobering figure from Auckland's Middlemore hospital, that one in 10 patients presenting to the Emergency Department are testing positive for Covid. The hospital serves the South Auckland community which has many multi-generational family households. Kathryn talks to Counties Manukau DHB Chief Medical Officer Dr Andrew Connolly, Pacific healthcare provider South Seas Healthcare Trust CEO Lemalu Silao Vaisola Sefo and to Dr Debbie Sorensen, who is the chief executive of the Pasifika Medical Association and she is also at the helm of Pasifika Futures, which is a Whanau Ora commissioning agency.

Dr. Emma Lawrey trained at the University of Auckland having grown up the child of NZ ex-pats living in Canada. She is now an emergency physician at Auckland hospital but has had varying subspecialty interests and accumulated postgraduate qualifications along the way.  She was the first education fellow at Middlemore hospital, has done extended study in clinical toxicology and now works in disaster and humanitarian medicine. She is the Clinical Director of the NZ Government field hospital – the New Zealand Medical Assistance Team (NZMAT) - and is currently a disaster response specialist for RespondGlobal in Australia and is on the clinical advisory board for TEND. She has previously worked for the emergency medicine secretariat of WHO in Geneva and the Pacific Office in Fiji. Emma is a single parent, sharing care of three beautiful children and enjoys rock climbing and trail climbing. In this episode, we discuss her journey into medicine, her work in disaster relief and humanitarian aid, NZMAT and their need in recruitment, her experience in working for the World Health Organisation, gender disparity in medicine, and work-life balance in emergency medicine. NZMAT information can be found here: https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/emergency-management/new-zealand-medical-assistance-teamIf you would like to volunteer for NZMAT, please get in touch and I will put you in contact with Dr. Lawrey. As always, if you have any feedback or queries, feel free to get in touch at doctornos@pm.me.Audio credit:Bliss by Luke Bergs https://soundcloud.com/bergscloudCreative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/33DJFs9Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/e9aXhBQDT9YSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/doctornos)

Masterminds and masterclasses has been around for quiet a while - and for good reason. The best thing you can do for your author career is to invest in yourself. To learn and grow.  In this episode of the Am Writing Fantasy podcast, Autumn and Jesper share some of their personal experiences from being part of masterminds, as well as, thoughts on why they are so beneficial.   If you want to join the masterclass on fantasy map making, sign up here: https://ultimatefantasywritersguide.com/fantasy-map-masterclass/   Tune in for new episodes EVERY single Monday.  SUPPORT THE AM WRITING FANTASY PODCAST! Please tell a fellow author about the show and visit us at Apple podcast and leave a rating and review.  Join us at www.patreon.com/AmWritingFantasy. For as little as a dollar a month, you'll get awesome rewards and keep the Am Writing Fantasy podcast going. Read the full transcript below. (Please note that it's automatically generated and while the AI is super cool, it isn't perfect. There may be misspellings or incorrect words on occasion). Narrator (1s): You're listening to the Am Writing Fantasy Podcast. In today's publishing landscape, you can reach fans all over the world. Query letters are a thing of the past. You don't even need a literary agent. There is nothing standing in the way of making a living from writing. Join two best selling authors who have self published more than 20 books between them now on to the show with your hosts, Autumn Birt and Jesper Schmidt. Jesper (29s): Hello, I'm Jesper. Autumn (31s): And I'm, Autumm. Jesper (33s): This is episode 146 of the Am Writing Fantasy podcast. And today's topic is Masterclasses and Masterminds for authors. And it's actually a topic that we've sort of been sitting on for quite a while. Isn't it? Autumm Autumn (49s): It is. We've had this idea and another big idea that kind of goes hand in hand with it. Why, why are we like Masterclasses or Willy's what the benefit of them are, especially mastermind groups as well. So this will be a fun one to jump into and I'm looking forward to hearing a reader and listener. I should say reactions because I would love to know what their take is on Masterclasses and all of these things that are out there to learn. Jesper (1m 16s): Yeah. Yeah. And of course we have a bit of a culture. W what is it called? Autumn (1m 20s): Altera photos. Yes. Jesper (1m 22s): That's what I was trying to say yes. With this one, but that will become clear Indian, but I think most people can probably guess it already now Autumn (1m 31s): Probably, but we'll see if they're right. Let them consider that we could pull twist ending. You never know. Jesper (1m 39s): Yeah, no, no, that's right. I've had a bit of a cipher weekend this last weekend. Yeah. Autumn (1m 48s): Well, I know because he, over the weekend you had a lot of refereeing and things going on. Jesper (1m 52s): I did, yes, I did do that. I refereed three matches in the weekend, but then Sunday evening, I, I went to watch the new Dune movie in the theater, Autumn (2m 3s): Right? Jesper (2m 4s): Yes. And then I also started watching a foundation on apple TV plus. Which is also sci-fi. Autumn (2m 11s): Yeah. That is a huge sci-fi weekend. How are they, how is Dune? Jesper (2m 18s): Actually, I think, I think for once they have actively succeeded in making a Dune movie, because I think it works. They they've sort of slowed down the pace. It even says in the, in the opening credits. So it's not a spoiler. I won't spoil anything here, but assessing the opening credits part one. So it's only going to be the part of the, part of the doom story that they're going to show in this movie. And it definitely ends as well. That it's very clear that there needs to become be more movies. I don't know how many, but, but this one actually works for once. I mean, they've tried to make doom before and failed, I think, but, but this one was good and the end, the cinematography is it's amazing. Jesper (3m 2s): Oh, nice looking. Autumn (3m 5s): Excellent. I'm going to have to put that one on my list of, you know, date nights with my husband. If I can find it playing anywhere near us, where we're still, Jesper (3m 14s): You should go and what's it for sure. That'd be. And, and also if anybody of the listeners, I don't know, I don't think you have apple plus two TV Autumm, but if any of our listeners do then what's foundation, as well as it goes, it has a very strong dune vibe to it. And, you know, in terms of cinema photography, it looks amazing. And it's so fun. I only watched the first episode I should say, but I actually quite liked it. I was pretty good. So yeah, a lot of scifi this weekend for me, Autumn (3m 49s): Just trying to get out of this world a little bit. Orange juice. Very cool. I will have to go look this up. I'm good. I actually started a Netflix series that kind of goes along with some of the murder mysteries. You and I have been reading, call it high sixties, so, and that's on Netflix. So if you happen to see it, it's actually, it's fun because it takes part. I think the ship is probably the 1920s era, the roaring twenties. And so it's got all that gorgeous styling and the art deco, which is one of my favorite design times. So just gorgeous little elements. And it's a feisty young heroine who, you know, they ship a ship's officer who definitely is kind of interested. Autumn (4m 34s): And she was just kind of batting them off as they did in the roaring twenties. Just like get serious. There's a murder we're trying to solve. So it's really kind of cute and good acting. I think that's actually, it might be Spanish based, but it's, it's really fun. But besides that, life's been quiet literally in a way, because you know, you know that I'm partially deaf and I've picked up a hearing aid this summer, but I finally decided it's I love hearing, but it's incredibly uncomfortable. I like, while we're podcasting, I can't have anything over my ear, like while I have it on. So there's this surgery that I've been contemplating, but I do risky surgeries. Autumn (5m 18s): I'd had PRK done on my eyes so that I could go from like seeing three inches to 2020, it was a miracle. I cannot believe that modern science can do such things. And there's something very similar for my ear. And I'm like all for it, except for one thing, there's the nerve that goes for your taste. Buds goes right over where they need to, you know, do their little finagling. And so then she adds, you know, me, I'm a foodie. So, you know, I'm a foodie. I love food. I was like one of my joys in life. If I can't drink tea, you know, I might as well not get up for the day. Well, just exposing this nerve to light can mess it up. And they're like, usually it's three days. Autumn (5m 59s): Sometimes it's a week. Sometimes it's a couple of weeks in 5% of the cases, it is a term sauce possibly, you know, the rest of your life injury. I'm like 5%. So that's one out of 20 people. This is just the doctor. He's like I said, 5% of my patients have this long-term issue. So one out of 20 people walk out of that door and they're never going to taste quite right again, I'm like, that's like saying I don't like my front door and I could get it fixed and have it moved or changed my front door. But there's a 5% chance that you're going to destroy the entire house. I don't know if it's, so I've been sitting here like flipping coins going. Autumn (6m 43s): I trying to think of an analogy going, you know, if I, if I had a scratch on my front door and it really drove me nuts and I hated seeing it every day, what I risked destroying the entire house, just to have it fixed should probably just suck up the hearing aid, but hurts. It really hurts, Jesper (7m 2s): But it isn't a hearing aid, also something about getting used to it, that wearing it enough and getting used to it. Autumn (7m 7s): I was hoping so, but it's actually the longer I wear it, the worst it's getting, I have, it turns out I have a tiny ear canal. Of course it's got all these problems, but so it actually wearing, it makes it feel like you have a major sinus infection. That's just like clogging your ear canal. So it was like when I pull it out, if I wanted to pay a lot of money. So maybe if I save up a couple 10, 15,000, it's really expensive. Very, very expensive. So yeah, I'm on the fence. If any listener out there or someone reading the transcripts, if you cannot listen, has any suggestions, please let me know, because I am on the fence with this one leading towards sucking it up and not getting it. Autumn (7m 54s): But maybe if someone has had a state, but it's got a stupid doc to me, if anyone else has had that and they've had a success, you know, let me know. I need some advice. Jesper (8m 6s): All right. Well, that's a call for the listeners. I don't think I can help months on that one. Autumn (8m 10s): Okay. Fair enough. You don't have hearing problems. Jesper (8m 15s): No, probably other things, but not hearing. Okay. Autumn (8m 18s): Fair enough. Narrator (8m 22s): A week on the internet with The Am Writing Fantasy Podcast Jesper (8m 27s): This week, I was thinking to keep this section sort of short and sweet by just mentioning that we had a soon call with Jason, our Facebook group moderator last week, and Luke was supposed to be there too. He's the other moderator of the group, but unfortunately he couldn't make it, but it was so great talking to Jason, But, but the reason I'm bringing it up is basically because the Am Writing fences, your Facebook group has really come a long way since we started. Autumn (8m 55s): Oh my gosh. As I told Jason, I remember, I remember when it was me and I was inviting a couple of Fantasy authors. I knew to join it. So if he did tell me I should get a pin for Jesper (9m 6s): Being an inaugural member, but yes, it's not two people anymore. It's almost 7,000. It's a crazy, yeah. We were sort of joking if we would make it to 10,000 before the end of this year, but let's see. Autumn (9m 22s): Yeah. That'll be interesting. You never know. I think it's slowed down slightly this last month, but it could pick up again. You never know how these things go. Jesper (9m 30s): No, for sure. Not. So, yeah. So if you, you, dear listener have not joined the best writing group on Facebook yet. Just search for Am Writing Fantasy and you will find us. Autumn (9m 41s): It's not just us saying it's the best one. It's the members and the moderators who just absolutely adore it. So that's kind of special Narrator (9m 52s): And onto today's topic. Jesper (9m 54s): All right. That was a sort of Sweden to the point. So we'll just get right into this main topic of Masterclasses and Masterminds, but I actually did a bit of digging ahead of this excellent Episode. Autumm do you know when the first mastermind was established? Autumn (10m 14s): I have no idea. I'm guessing it's probably, if you're not counting internet I would say it's probably pretty early, but I mean, if you're counting the internet age, I would say probably post 2005, Jesper (10m 27s): Right? Yeah. I did some digging, as I said, I think actually there is something about Masterminds going on in ancient Greece, but, but if we just sort of look at it in a bore Middlemore modern context and I could of course be wrong about this. So this is just as far as I could figure out or find out by searching around. Right. So I could be wrong, but I think it was actually Henry Ford. Oh, really? Cause he met formally with like a group of men who did not work for Ford motor company and they met at least once a month and then they shared ideas and they solve problems and so on. So I think that was actually the first mastermind in, in modern times. Autumn (11m 7s): It makes sense. And there have been, you know, you mentioned that there have been a few notorious as well, groups, I believe in like the New York scene, the art scene slash writers scene, there were some amazing authors and scientists and minds that would get together and just spill out ideas. I think it is an amazing way of cooking up some really innovative ideas and problem-solving Jesper (11m 33s): Yeah, yeah. Indeed. And later on, Henry Ford was also asked about his secret to his success and he actually said that this group, his mastermind was the reason. So I found that pretty interesting. Autumn (11m 46s): It was really interesting. I had not heard that about Henry Ford. Jesper (11m 50s): Yeah. So I think it, it can definitely the needle. I have been part of a few, a mastermind, so myself as, as part of, you know, management groups and so on and I also find it incredibly helpful. Autumn (12m 4s): Yeah. And I've when I was learning to build courses, I was part of a mastermind group there. And so I've been in a couple as well and they can be, and like you said, work with work. I had a leadership mastermind course. So that was really, they're really great. And they can be an amazing way of focused learning as well as coming up with some really great ideas. Jesper (12m 27s): Yeah. And, and I think basically we're just going to have like a general discussion here about Masterclasses and Masterminds and then maybe, maybe a bit about some challenges with it as well. At least I have a few notes about that, but I believe what happens a lot to us authors, it's sort of like we have our head down in the daily grind of writing books and you know, we never sort of stop to consider the options that are available to us. You know, sometimes, sometimes we may not, might not even be aware of them, but this is where like, like Henry Ford that we can actually benefit from what others are bringing to the table because they, they will, other people will have a different take on a problem you have, or they will just bring some ideas to the table that you hadn't even thought about. Jesper (13m 15s): And I think that is some of, one of the main benefits probably from the mastermind. Autumn (13m 21s): Yes. I agree. Because like, like our take our Facebook group, The Am Writing Fantasy Facebook group there, it's really supportive people ask questions all the time, but the problem is it is nearly 7,000 members and that we need to have moderators because every once in awhile, you know, someone's a little snippy and in general, they're really nice and usually very encouraging. But there is also a huge chance because you don't know everyone you're talking to, to misinterpret, what's being asked or not to ask it in a way that everyone understands. And I think the mastermind group, because it is a smaller group, it's usually focused participants. I mean, some of the ones I've been in, you had to be vetted so that you kind of fit in with the other people who are there. Autumn (14m 5s): I mean, obviously it helps when everyone's on Author. So therefore, you know, everyone, a fantasy author, especially you got the ground rules right there, but when you have something like Henry Ford had, that's a S it could be this whole intellectual intellectual thing where there's a whole bunch of different people from different backgrounds coming together, you know, and you're discussing maybe random things. You kind of want to be vetted, but you get to know people and you get to know their concerns and maybe what they're working on. So that when you ask a question, they're like, they're seeing, you know, your lens and your sphere and they're problem solving for you. Not just as like a general, Hey, have you tried writing faster? You know, it's much more like, Hey, I know you have two kids and this doesn't work, but have you tried doing this instead? Autumn (14m 51s): So that may, you might be able to, you know, turn out more words. I just think they're so helpful because you, I know from my leadership course, I mean, we stayed, we're still friends. We stayed friends for years, decade because it really was a powerful impact to get to know someone that closely. Jesper (15m 10s): Yeah. And you took the points, you touched upon something that I think is important here because when you were in Masterminds or even Masterclasses for that matter, we are sort of all like-minded people. And what I mean by that is not necessarily that like Henry Ford, for example, if we use that example again, it's not necessarily that you have to be in the same industry. You don't even have to be authors all of them, but in our case, it will be. But, but even if you're not, I mean, like-minded in the sense that we all are there because we want to achieve something. You know, we, we want to move our author business further along the road. You know, we want to maybe earn more money. Jesper (15m 51s): Maybe we want to become better at writing, whatever it is, but we are there because we want to learn. And by helping each other, it basically becomes for the benefit of everyone. And of course, some people might think, well, I already know enough, but I think the truth of it is that no, you don't. We can all grow. We can all learn. And that will, that's a continuous thing that will go on for the rest of your life. So for me, joining masterminds, joining Masterclasses is there's always something you can take away from those sessions, even if you're already quite accomplished. Autumn (16m 31s): See, I think to me, that's where the master comes in. That wording is when you're still learning and still starting out, like, you're still learning how to write the intro, or maybe you haven't even conquered your first book. You're still learning a lot of stuff, but it's, it's huge and new that might actually not be the best time for the masterclass because you're still absorbing so much stuff that you're kind of figuring it out, but there's comes a certain point where you're like, all right, I've written a series. I've written a few novels. I kind of have the marketing done. I've done this stuff, but I know I'm not where I want to be. I have this growth and there's this kind of gap of what you want to learn, because it's becoming more tailored to who you are and your book and your journey, and nothing else is going to do it. Autumn (17m 18s): So short of paying for a coach, which is very expensive, you know, paying for like one-on-one or joining a mastermind group where you can have that focus and you're helping others. And usually by helping others, you end up helping yourself because, oh my goodness, like, you know, I've, I've learned to life coaching over the summer. So that really, when you start asking the right questions and you re reflect on them yourself, you start solving your own problems really fast. And it's kind of amazing that way. So it becomes this group energy where you're helping each other and you're all excited and you're all really going to push forward. And so, yeah, if you think you'd have nothing else to learn, you probably won't go to a mastermind group and have that energy because you won't be putting out the energy as well. Autumn (18m 4s): And if you feel like everything is too overwhelming, you might not be in the right spot for it either yet. You might need to, you know, write a book, tackle some of those big questions that you can just read a blog post for, or take a intro course on writing for. And then maybe you want to level up to the next stage and try mastermind. Jesper (18m 26s): Yeah. And I think, and maybe you can, you can see if I'm right here, but I think that one of the major challenges or major reasons as to why authors do not join Masterminds or not so much Masterclasses, maybe because they're not, they're not so time-consuming, but more Masterminds is the time commitment of it. I think, I think a lot of the time people are reluctant to join something like a mastermind because they are afraid that they won't have the time for it. And, and then they just decide not to. And as I've said in the beginning, right? Jesper (19m 7s): I mean, I've been part of a few masterminds myself. And of course I can only speak for myself, but I always have found that it is well worth the time that I put into it, because you're going to get so much out of it. And yeah, maybe it doesn't mean that you are prioritizing some of your time or allocating some of your time to the mastermind instead of doing something else, but usually mastermind, they don't go on forever anyway. So it might be like, I don't know, four months, five months, six months, something like that. And you meet maybe once a week, twice a month, something like that. So yeah, you, you will invest some time in it, but I think when time commitment concerns are the main reason for not joining, I think that's actually a bit of a shame, to be honest. Autumn (19m 55s): I agree. And I think it might be good to let's define masterclass versus mastermind. So a masterclass is usually a single course. I've seen them up to three, you know, three sessions, but it's usually like, it's just a very short, very focused course that, like I said, it levels up, it is advanced techniques. You're not coming in as a beginner. So there's going to be lingo and stuff that you're like, oh, you know, I, you should know this already. It might be explained, but if you've never written a book and you take a brighter as mastermind, you might, or masterclass, you might be a little behind and you might not be as you ain't need to watch it a few times. But yeah, Masterclasses usually a very short one to three sessions, you know, at the most, so an hour or maybe three hours is not a big time commitment, but a mastermind group, it tends to be more interactive. Autumn (20m 46s): And like, you, you can meet sometimes twice a month. It doesn't go on forever. It shouldn't be go on forever. I was invited to one that had no end point and cost a God awful amount of money. And I kind of cocked my head and said, you're not trying to teach me anything. You're just trying to get me to pay you and walked away from that one. So do you should always take everything with a grain of salt, but yes, they should be it's to me, it's almost like the life coaching. They should have a definite end point a definite target, a goal that you're going in for that you want to see happen and eat might be twice a month. And maybe it is once a week. It depends on whichever one you end up being a part of. Autumn (21m 29s): But as with all things, maybe you won't be writing as much, but when you get out of it, you're going to be writing so much better, faster, stronger. It's going to be worth giving up some time so that when you get to the other side of it, what you're doing, you're doing with so much more confidence, skill and knowledge. And with some friends that you're going to still have. I mean, like I've had a writers group and we stayed in touch again for ages afterwards, because we really cared for each other and you keep those friendships going even after the group is officially over. Jesper (22m 1s): Yeah. And I want to touch upon that just in a moment, but I just to add one thing to what you were saying about the difference between the master class and Masterminds, the master class are almost always very sort of instructor heavy. It is an instructor led class. So meaning that you have a teacher who is just explaining things, whereas the master mind, it also has it, but it's not so much a teacher. It's more like a facilitator. There is a facilitator there that will facilitate the conversation within the group. And there will be, at least sometimes there will be a bit of cheating as well, but it's, it's only a smaller portion of the mastermind. Whereas in the master class, you, you, you basically, even if it's probably virtual in many cases, but you're in a class room kind of environment. Jesper (22m 49s): If you see what I mean, somebody is teaching something, whereas that that's not so much the case in the mastermind, it's more about a group helping each other to become more successful, whatever success means to you as, as the member of that mastermind. Yeah. So, but I wanted to get back to what you were saying there, because one of the huge benefits I see is, and it ties in with what you were saying. It's the accountability part. You know, you were saying like, you, you get the friends and you, you, you, you stop meeting on a frequent basis, but you have accountability built in. And that makes a huge difference. You know? So you have a mastermind session, you agree some things that you are going to go and do for before the next meeting. Jesper (23m 32s): And that forces you to actually go and start ticking off those, those things on the to-do list. So that you, next next time you show up, you actually did what you were supposed to do because otherwise you're going to get stuck right in the mastermind. And you're not going to get much help. Plus who wants to show off for the next class and say, I haven't done anything of what we agreed I should do. I mean, nobody wants to do that. So not to say it can never happen, but in most cases it really helps you to, it's a lot about motivation. I feel like it's a motivating experience to be part of a mastermind. And maybe that's actually one of the greatest benefits of it now that I think about it. Yeah, Autumn (24m 9s): No, I would agree. It, it definitely, you, you ended up with accountability partners. Do you want to hold up your part of whatever you're working on or learning or doing. So, you know, you've put in the effort, you, you join a mastermind group when you, you know, you're going to be putting in effort, you shouldn't join it already feeling tired and overwhelmed and everything else, because it's, it's a bit of a commitment because you're really, you're trying to take some pretty good skills and move it to the master level. You know, you're, you're pretty solid intermediate. And you want to go to the next tier. You're going to have to put in a very focused time intensive, well, not time intensive, but energy intensive mind intensive. You're going to think about it. You're gonna work on it. Autumn (24m 49s): You're gonna have to be accountable for it. So you don't do this when you're like, I want to go on vacation. It's not maybe the best time in your life to do a mastermind, but it does up your skills, I think a lot. And I agree you end up, you know, putting in your effort, putting in your part. And so I think when you get done with it, maybe you're not quite as high getting all that same amount of workout, but you're higher than you were when you went in and you're better at getting your work done. Jesper (25m 18s): Yeah. And at the same time, I want to say, be careful that it doesn't become an excuse. I mean, I think you'll write into, in what you just mentioned on them, but at the same time, that can easily be turned round to becoming an excuse for not joining and a master. Right. Like, well, Autumm said that I feel like having a vacation. So now I shouldn't. Right. I mean, a mastermind is usually maybe as I said before four or five, six months duration, right. There will be some point during that period probably where you have less energy or maybe you have something going on or whatever. So I also feel like you might need to push yourself a bit to say, I'll give it a try. Right? Yeah. And, and jump into, of course not. Jesper (25m 59s): If, if you truly have something in your life that, I mean, I'm not saying that you should push past any like boundaries that you shouldn't, but Autumn (26m 8s): Keep your health family first. Jesper (26m 11s): Yeah. Yeah. For sure. For sure. But, but, but at the same time, if you want to sort of get to the next level, at some point sooner or later, you have to start investing in yourself and your business or in your writing skills or whatever it is you want to improve, but it's just tuition not to that's the problem. Autumn (26m 30s): Yeah. Well, I, I guess I'm always the one who's like, oh, learn something new and let's go do that. I don't care that I've got, you know, a mountain of things, but I do see what you're saying. And I agree I've I do think more of a self-evaluation maybe you don't think you have the energy, but if you feel static in your writing career, or, you know, if you're looking at Masterclasses anywhere, but if you're feeling stuck or static, or like you're not progressing, things are not going as quickly or they're just plateaued, even if you don't quite have the energy, but you think you have the time commitment, that might be a good indicator to do a mastermind. Because being with other people who are excited, you know, and an instructor, or at least a facilitator, I like how you use that word. Autumn (27m 15s): Facilitator fits very well with a mastermind group. You know, being with other people will get you the energy to keep going. So as long as you have the time commitment, even if you're not feeling it really good, like you're so excited, like you're wanting to get up at 5:00 AM to go running for half an hour. You don't have to have that level of energy because if you do, I don't talk to me at 5:00 AM. I'm still asleep, but you just have to have that realization that things are not quite going the way you want them to go. You maybe you're not feeling the writing. Maybe you're like fluff about it. You're just like, maybe I'm done. Autumn (27m 56s): I don't know. I'm stuck. That's probably a really good indicator that it's time to, you know, level up, get into a mastermind group, get the energy, find out where you're stuck, get unstuck and push through it and come out the other end feeling really awesome. Like you did get up at 5:00 AM and went for a run and it was great Jesper (28m 16s): Afterwards. It's great. But I think of course the mastermind should in itself be, be a good experience as well. It's not like, it's not like you have to force yourself to it. Like you might have to force yourself for exercising. It is it isn't true. I've always enjoyed the mastermind sessions. They are quite fun. You learn a lot, you take a lot of you get inspired from it. So I think in general, it it's a very good like that. And then I was just thinking about something based on what you said, and now it's escaped my mind again, like a puff of smoke, Autumn (28m 50s): So that doesn't usually happen on the pad podcast. So we'll, we'll forgive you this time, but yes, but no, I agree. It is not like exercise. It's it's more like getting to hang out with some of your favorite people talking about your favorite subject and getting geeking out about it. So if you like getting excited about something. Oh, excellent. See, I just need to talk more. Go ahead. Jesper (29m 14s): You just needed to fill the gap then I, yeah, no, but it was because you were talking about getting excited about the writing and so on, but it could also be of course, that you feel like I've tried every book marketing trick that I have, you know, I I've been able to find on blog, post on podcasts, listenings or YouTube or whatever. I tried, like, I feel like I've tried everything and nothing works. No, maybe then this Whaley, it could also be about, I want, I just want to sell more books, you know, that could also be something you could bring into the mastermind and, and learn from there. So yeah, a lot of good things can come from it. Autumn (29m 51s): Definitely. I think it is just, it's a little cooking pots, Bunsen burner, and a little crucible. It's a crucible. That's what the word I was trying to find of. Just, you know, getting things going and really leveling up your skill to a new level faster than you would be able to do it on your own. And I think that's, what's important. That's why you join a group is because it is sort of like the speed training to get somewhere new. Jesper (30m 19s): Yeah, indeed. So I don't know if should we get to our ulterior motive now Autumm Autumn (30m 26s): I guess we've held out long enough and covered the basis of why Masterminds and masterclasses are actually a really good tool. Jesper (30m 36s): Yeah. Because, well, the ulterior motive is not that surprising, I guess, but that it's because we want to, we actually want to have our first masterclass and we actually made it available for sign up right now. Autumn (30m 51s): I'm so excited. Not just because I built the website and the registration page, but I'm still excited that I got it done. Jesper (31m 0s): Yeah. And so there is a link in the show notes and you will get right to the registration page from clicking death. And we have shared all the different info, not that much, to be honest, but there is the information you need on the registration page, but the master class is on Fantasy map-making Autumn (31m 20s): And that's what I was going to say. If you weren't going to tell people I was going to jump in and be like, we have to tell them what this one is about. So this is, this one is fantastic because what one who doesn't love a Fantasy map and two, this is how we met. So I think it's our inaugural masterclass that we're going to be is going to also be like with the topic of how you and I actually started talking. So it's going to be so cool. We already geek out about Fantasy maps. So Jesper (31m 53s): What was it? Was it last week or the week before last we had the top 10 about Maps. I can't remember. Was it? Yeah, Autumn (32m 3s): I think so. Wow. I don't think that. Jesper (32m 7s): Okay. Whatever, but yeah, we love fantasy maps and the good news of course, is as well that the master class is taking place online. It's a virtual masterclass, so it Autumn (32m 18s): Doesn't matter what country you're in. So that's always better. Jesper (32m 21s): No, no, of course there will be a bit about time zones here in the sense that we are running it on the 28th of October. If you are in Europe, it'll be evening time. If you are in the us, it'll be daytime. But the good news is that we are going to record it. So if you sign up and you can't make it in person, that's absolutely fine. We will make a recording available. So, and I think I can promise it's going to be a lot of fun. Don't you agree? Autumm Autumn (32m 49s): I considering I know what the slides and I know the topic I know is going to be so much fun. We're going to have a blast. And even though being a masterclass, it is mostly instructor led. We have a ton of questions and some Q and a sessions and polls and surveys. So it's going to be so much fun and interactive. And I don't think people are going to be like, that was an hour. That was like 15 minutes. It wasn't an hour. It was going to be a blast. Yes. Jesper (33m 15s): Yeah. And it, and we have purposely made a soda. There are some fun things coming in between the information. So it's going to be entertaining. And I think it was 38. Was it $38 or something like that? It wasn't, it Autumm yeah. $38. Yes. And it's not very expensive. And what you get as part of that package is as well that once you've signed up for this masterclass, you will actually get, get access to a second masterclass on a different topic that we're going to have on a later date. We haven't set that date yet, but you will get in as part of the package here to have that included in the price that you're paying. So it's essentially 38 bucks for two Masterclasses. Jesper (33m 57s): Yes. Autumn (33m 58s): That's actually really good deal. I've looked at Masterclasses there. Even if you go to, what is it? The masterclass Lear learn something from Neil Gaiman. Those are $99. So $38 for a Masterclasses is for two Masterclasses is incredibly genius though. Jesper (34m 15s): Yeah. Well, the other thing is that, sorry, I was speaking over you there. That's all right. Autumn (34m 21s): So maybe we're being a little too cheap thinking about, you know, the, you know, $99 learn from Neil Gaiman and we're only doing 38 for $2 for two classes, but I guess we'll go with it because we've already announced it Jesper (34m 33s): We'll go with it. But the thing is as well that we do plan to, at some point in the future, we, we don't have any dates for anything of this yet, but we do plan some point in the future to actually run a mastermind. And the thing is that our planning, at least as far as it goes right now, is that we are only going to invite people who actually attended Masterclasses to the mastermind when the time comes. So that might be another reason why you want to sign up. So you can actually at least put your, you know, taking the, what, not a tick in the box, but you can put your like ticket in the hat or whatever, whatever you say, your name and the hat. Jesper (35m 14s): Yeah. Well, when we get to the mastermind, because the mastermind for sure will only be a very limited audience. So w w not everybody will be able to get in. So, but we do tend, it tends to add people to a wait list and so on if you don't get in the first time around. But yeah, we'll see about that. The mastermind part is secondary right now. The, the main point is that if you want to entertaining fun, geeking out about FANTASY map class, then get signed up for it. And then you're going to get a second masterclass at a later date. And of course the second one will also be recorded and it will be made available as a recording if you can't join in person and all that. Jesper (35m 54s): So yes, that's it to be a participant. I don't want to geek out about Fantasy maps, but I guess I have to help run the show. I would sign up for that. That's true. Darn it. I can watch the recording later though. That's okay. Yes. Okay. So next Monday, we have our very first critical reading episode. We'll share our thoughts on the fifth season by N.K. Jemison. Narrator (36m 29s): If you like, what you just heard, there's a few things you can do to SUPPORT THE AM WRITING FANTASY PODCAST. Please tell a fellow author about the show and visit us at Apple podcast and leave a rating and review. You can also join Autumn and Jesper on patreon.com/AmWritingFantasy. For as little as a dollar a month, you'll get awesome rewards and keep The Am Writing Fantasy Podcast, going. Stay safe out there and see you next Monday.

Helen is a mental health nurse who has spent 15 years in psychiatric nursing. After experiencing burnout, Helen spent time upskilling in different mental health and well-being areas and now has quite a different approach to her work. Helen now has a business (One life NZ) where she is running a private practice and still working part-time in mainstream psychiatric nursing at Middlemore hospital.One Life NZ: https://www.onelifenz.com/If you enjoyed this podcast and want to support my content creation work, you can make a small donation of $5 here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thejwordnz Keep up with the latest from The J Word NZ:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thejwordnz/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thejwordnz/Website/Blogs: https://thejwordnz.co.nz/Disclaimer:The J Word NZ and its media content are created based on my own experiences and opinions, as well as those individuals who share their stories with me. I do not have any formal medical or mental health qualifications. If you are experiencing any issues with mental health, please consult your doctor or a medical health professional for advice.Support the show