Midday Report Essentials for Tuesday 12th August 2025
In today's episode, Critical staff shortages, a siloed culture and serious governance issues have been identified in an inquiry into Canterbury's Mental Health Services - sparked by the murder of a Christchurch woman; While other western nations declare their intention to recognise a Palestinian state, the New Zealand government is being described as a "laggard" for delaying its position on statehood; Farmers, winemakers and tour operators are welcoming the government's announcement of two new work visas to help bring workers into the country - but the hospitality industry says it's been left out in the cold; The Wellington suburb of Newtown is getting a bad rap and has been in the news for all the wrong reasons.
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RNZ News
a minute ago
- RNZ News
Inquest into the death of Pauline Hanna to begin
Pauline Hanna. Photo: Melanie Earley The inquest into the death of Auckland health boss Pauline Hanna gets under way today with a pre-hearing conference at North Shore District Court. Hanna, who managed the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine as an executive director at Counties Manukau Health, died in her Remuera home on 5 April, 2021. Her husband, former Auckland eye surgeon Philip Polkinghorne, was found not guilty of her murder after an eight-week trial that dominated headlines last year. The pre-hearing conference to discuss inquest details is being held today before Coroner Tania Tetitaha. Philip Polkinghorne outisde the High Court in Auckland in 2024. Photo: RNZ / Calvin Samuel Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
31 minutes ago
- RNZ News
Coroner rules newborn found dead alongside mum killed by sepsis, smothering, or both
Emerald Tai. Photo: Supplied / Givealittle A coroner has not been able to find with certainty what caused the death of a newborn boy who was found after sleeping alongside his mother, who also died . Police at the time called the deaths "an absolute tragedy" . Tanatui Samuels was born at Auckland Hospital on 13 March, 2020. Three days later he was dead. He was the son of Emerald Tai and her partner Tana-Tui. Baby Tanatui was born at 38 weeks after Tai went to hospital in the late stages of labour. He was healthy, but needed to be put under observation because meconium was found in the in-utero fluid during delivery. Meconium is the baby's first stool which a baby normally passes in the first few days after birth. It can cause serious health issues, including infection, if it's found while a baby is still in the womb. In a finding released on Wednesday, the coroner Woolley said Tai, 27, asked to be discharged from hospital at about 6pm the next day so she and her baby could go home. But hospital staff told her she should stay under observation for at least a day after the birth. She was at high risk of post-partum bleeding because of a fast labour, was anaemic, had a history of bleeding and had five more earlier births. Tai also had low blood pressure coupled with a high heart rate, the coroner noted. Hospital staff also advised that baby Tanatui should stay for a full 48 hours because of his exposure to meconium. Tai signed a "discharge against medical advice" form and was told to monitor her baby for increased temperature or efforts in breathing. She was also given a pēpi pod. Tai had not updated her address to Kelston on hospital records, which contained an old address in Blockhouse Bay. The day after the pair went home a midwife said she would visit that day but went to the incorrect Blockhouse Bay home. She knocked on the door twice and rang Tai, but she did not answer. The midwife made a note for the duty midwife to visit the next day. But that night Tai complained of pain in her stomach, her back, hips and buttocks and also said she was feeling hot. She and baby Tanatui went to sleep on the couch in the lounge. At about 10am the next day, her partner went to check on them and found them both cold and unresponsive. The coroner's report said a forensic pathologist found she died from puerperal sepsis. It's also known as postpartum sepsis - a bacterial infection in the genital tract within 10 days of birth, miscarriage or abortion. The coroner said this used to be very common and that many women died from it. In modern times, it was thought about 1 to 3 percent of women having babies were affected by it. When the health and disability commissioner [HDC] investigated, obstetrician advice said the condition could develop rapidly and be very difficult to diagnose. Tai had a raised temperature, heightened heart rate, low blood pressure and abdominal pain. These could have suggested a developing infection, the coroner's finding said, but could also have been something else. The HDC accepted in its own investigation that there were no "immediate red flags" from the readings. On her son, the same forensic pathologist found signs of sepsis infection and acute pneumonia in one of his lungs. They noted swabs taken from Tai and her baby grew the same type of bacteria, but they advised the infection was not likely to have spread from the placenta or in blood. Methamphetamine was found in baby Tanatui's liver - but not found in his mother's blood taken after she died. The findings released on Wednesday said this could be explained by the newborn being exposed to P in his home. The pathologist was not able to reach any conclusion about whether methamphetamine played any part in Tanatui's death, the coroner said. He was found sleeping on the couch with his mother in a prone position - an unsafe way to sleep and a risk factor in infant deaths. The way he was found also indicated he was partly underneath his mother which could have caused him to suffocate. The coroner ruled baby Tanatui died from either sepsis, or asphyxia from unsafe sleeping, or both. Coroner Woolley said the pair were co-sleeping and that there were loose blankets and pillows around him which increased the risk of accidental smothering. Tai first went to a community midwife clinic when she was 19 weeks pregnant but it was so busy she could only be seen as a quick review. She never went to any other appointments over the next four months. At the same time, a registered midwife tried to make contact with her but was not able to find or get hold of her. The next time Tai got antenatal care was when she was 37 weeks pregnant, with her blood tests showing she was anaemic. She was advised to change her address after the birth of her baby. The coroner's ruling said Health New Zealand told the HDC several changes to practices and policies were made after the deaths. These included training staff and updating guidelines for identifying maternal sepsis, and making a resource for patients. Guidelines were also made around minimum assessments for patients who did not have a lead maternity carer or who had used minimal antenatal care. There were also changes to the hospital discharge process and handover to community midwives. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Scoop
2 hours ago
- Scoop
Canterbury Mental Health Review Released
A formal regulatory inspection of Canterbury-based mental health services has set out a series of recommended changes for Health New Zealand and is continuing checks over the next 12 months. Ministry of Health Director of Mental Health Dr John Crawshaw, who undertook the inspection under Section 99 of the Mental Health Act, acknowledges the tragic circumstances prompting this work. He expressed his deep sympathy for the family mourning the loss of Laisa Waka Tunidau who was murdered by a patient on community leave from Christchurch's Hillmorton hospital in June 2022. The Ministry's inspection began the following month in July 2022. Sadly, there was a second tragic incident in 2024 involving a patient under the care of mental health services at Hillmorton – underscoring the urgency of addressing underlying issues facing the Canterbury service. Dr Crawshaw says the circumstances of both incidents were separately investigated by Health NZ and are not directly covered by the Ministry's report, which looked more deeply into the underlying issues related to governance, the care model, and resourcing. He says the report recognised the difficulties for mental health services brought by COVID-19 during the pandemic on top of a legacy of events in the region that have stretched mental health services and exacerbated existing systemic issues, and the findings of the review should be seen in that light. Dr Crawshaw says the goal of mental health services is to support, care for, and treat individuals affected by serious mental illness to keep both them and the community safe. Where there are serious service failures, such as in this instance, the legislation provides significant investigative powers to find causes, make recommendations and then monitor progress. The report makes 18 recommendations covering governance, the care model, and resourcing. The overall theme of the report is the need for better cooperation between service leadership and service delivery to prioritise service, enable staff to do their best, improve the models of care, and planning. 'There have already been significant improvements made by Health New Zealand in many areas.' Dr Crawshaw notes that the use of leave plans and leave protocols have been assessed and updated following an independent review. Safeguards now include a detailed leave procedure, an updated safety and risk assessment framework for leave, an amended missing person policy, and a review of the electronic clinical record system. As of next week, for patients under the Mental Health Act who are cared for in Hillmorton's forensic services (but are not special patients), all leave requests, which follow a very robust, carefully considered process, will also require final review by the Director of Mental Health. This arrangement will be in place while the report's recommendations are being implemented. Dr Crawshaw says Health New Zealand's work in quality improvement and progressing the report's recommendations will be carefully monitored over the next 12 months. He says this will help provide the public with a stronger degree of assurance that underlying issues are being addressed and progress continues to be made.
