Covid Royal Commission enters fifth day
The Royal Commission of Inquiry into the government's Covid-19 response has entered its fifth day and follows a tense session of hearings on Thursday, with critics describing what they called red-flags in the vaccine roll-out. Reporter Victor Waters spoke to Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira.
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RNZ News
an hour ago
- RNZ News
Plea to reopen consultation into plans to close Auckland mental health facility
There are plans to close mental health facility Rauaroha Segar House. Photo: Google Maps Street View A union representing public service workers is urging health officials to reopen consultation into proposals to close an Auckland mental health facility , citing concerns about predetermination. The PSA has sent a lawyer's letter to Health NZ Te Whatu Ora with the plea about Rauaroha Segar House, which offer a publicly funded intensive programme for people with long-standing or chronic mental health problems. Health NZ says it is working through feedback on the proposed closure, after staff put forward a plan to keep a service they and many patients say is unique. After the period seeking submissions closed, correspondence obtained by Labour spokesperson for mental health Ingrid Leary and reported by RNZ revealed officials had intended to vacate the Khyber Pass Road facility Segar House operates from in January, before a pre-Christmas move to extend the lease until June. It has since been extended again until 30 September. The correspondence makes no mention of possible alternative venues for the programme, but Health NZ said the building lease was not a factor in its decision making, and the proposal was about providing the best healthcare and value for money. The PSA's letter, from its solicitor Caroline Mayston to Health NZ co-director of mental health and addiction services in Te Toka Tumai, Stacy Silva Garay, last Friday said after learning of the lease information in the media the union had serious concerns about "predetermination of the change process". It said Health NZ breached its duty to provide all relevant information to employees and unions during the Segar House consultation process. "We request that consultation be reopened to allow affected employees to consider and respond to this additional information, as is their right," Mayston wrote. The union's concerns were not alleviated by Health NZ saying lease arrangements had nothing to do with the proposal to close Segar House. "This [the correspondence obtained by Leary] indicates to us that Te Whatu Ora was planning for the disestablishment of Rauaroha Segar House well prior to opening consultation with affected employees and had no intention of maintaining the service elsewhere. "We do not accept this information was not relevant to the change process." Rauaroha Segar House has offered a publicly funded intensive programme for people with long-standing or chronic mental health problems. Photo: 123RF RNZ asked Health NZ if it would allow staff and other parties to have a say on the new information, what its response was regarding concerns about predetermination, and when a decision on Segar House's future would be made. Health NZ northern regional acting deputy chief executive Mike Shepherd said officials were considering the information the PSA provided. "We have received a large volume of feedback on the change process for the facility and we have been carefully reviewing this feedback. "We will be in a position to make a decision shortly and this decision will be communicated to affected stakeholders as soon as possible." Leary said allowing the PSA's suggestion of reopening consultation seemed fair and logical. "Extending the time to ensure proper consultation is happening is the right thing to do. That's what I've said all along and that's what needs to happen." It made sense to give the staff idea of loosening the criteria for people to use the service a go, to see if it worked, she said. But, it looked like officials hadn't entered the process with an open mind as they scrambled to save money, Leary said. Health NZ has cited low referral numbers in its proposal to axe Segar House, although entry requirements were tightened about six years ago. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Scoop
7 hours ago
- Scoop
More International Doctors To Be Fast-Tracked
Minister of Health The Government has welcomed the announcement by the Medical Council of New Zealand that will see doctors from Chile, Luxembourg, and Croatia added to the Comparable Health System pathway, which will streamline the registration process and help strengthen New Zealand's frontline health workforce, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. 'This is a practical step that will help us get more doctors into hospitals and clinics across the country more quickly,' Mr Brown says. 'New Zealand is in an international contest to train, attract, and retain skilled medical professionals. The addition of Chile, Luxembourg, and Croatia to the list of Comparable Health Systems will make it easier for qualified doctors from these countries to live and work in New Zealand.' The Comparable Health System pathway enables international medical graduates from certain countries to fast-track their registration with the Medical Council of New Zealand, provided their qualifications and training meet recognised standards. With this latest decision, there are now 29 countries on the list, following the inclusion of Japan and South Korea earlier this year in February 'New Zealand has long benefited from the skills and expertise of international medical professionals. They play a vital role in supporting our domestically trained workforce and ensuring patients can access timely, quality healthcare,' Mr Brown says. 'This builds on other initiatives the Government has to boost New Zealand's health workforce. Earlier this year I announced a two-year training programme to support up to 100 additional overseas-trained doctors into New Zealand's primary care workforce. 'Over 180 expressions of interest were received for this programme, exceeding the number of places available. This strong response shows that there is untapped potential in New Zealand. Overseas trained doctors are eager to work where they are most needed, and this Government is opening the door for them to do so. 'Through our record $16.68 billion investment across three Budgets, we are making sure our health system is properly resourced to meet the growing demands placed on it. That funding is already delivering results, with record funding for general practice to increase capacity, upgraded urgent care services across the country, and a new 24/7 digital health service. This is how we are putting patients first. 'The Medical Council's announcement adds to the body of work the Government is undertaking to rebuild our health system around the needs of patients, so that all New Zealanders can receive the timely, quality healthcare they need.' Note: Chile, Croatia, and Luxembourg join 26 other countries that New Zealand recognises as having a comparable health system: Australia Austria Belgium Canada Czech Republic Denmark Finland France Germany Greece Hong Kong Iceland Israel Italy Japan Norway Portugal Republic of Ireland Republic of Korea (South Korea) Singapore Spain Sweden Switzerland The Netherlands United Kingdom United States of America
RNZ News
8 hours ago
- RNZ News
Central Otago Lakes patients forced to travel for hospital treatments
Southern Lakes Health Trust clinical advisor Dr Jez Leftley, health infrastructure specialist Helen Foot and Southland MP Joseph Mooney are among those pushing for a new publicly-run, privately-funded hospital in the region. Photo: SUPPLIED Decades of dramatically misjudged healthcare demand is forcing thousands to travel beyond Central Otago and Queenstown Lakes for hospital treatment each year, including for half of all births, a health group says. The Southern Lakes Health Trust, whose steering committee includes Otago and Central Lakes MPs, mayors and clinicians believed a recent shift in approach from Health NZ could result in a new, local, publicly run and privately financed hospital. The trust wanted public health chiefs to back its plan, acknowledging existing healthcare services were long outstripped by the region's booming growth. The trust's clinical advisor Dr Jez Leftley said Queenstown's Lakes District Hospital was built in 1988 for 4500 people, so its 12 inpatient beds and 10 emergency department beds were not enough for the nearly 80,000 people living in Central Otago and Queenstown Lakes. "There's been a recognition amongst clinicians in the area for years the services are severely lacking and we're hugely under-resourced." More than 3000 Central Otago Lakes patients were admitted to Dunedin and Invercargill hospitals last year because of limited local services, the trust said. The trust said 49 percent of planned births in Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago happened outside of the region, not including urgent transfers. About 300 people were transferred from Lakes District Hospital to other hospitals by helicopter in 2024 at a cost of $6.3 million, including visitors injured skiing, biking and taking part in Queenstown's adventure tourism offerings, according to figures supplied by Southland MP Joseph Mooney. Mooney - also on the steering committee - said that could have flow on effects for people in other regions waiting for elective surgeries. "They get, effectively, bounced off the waiting list because of the urgent needs that are coming in from people who have bad injuries. So, it can mean people end up waiting a lot longer for health services in other parts of the broader southern region." Earlier this year the Southern Lakes Health Trust devised a plan to try to fix the region's healthcare woes. The trust wanted Health NZ and the government to consider a new, privately financed, but publicly run "Southern Lakes Hospital". Health infrastructure specialist Helen Foot said it was an outside-the-box solution to an urgent need. "It's partly about getting creative in how you use your workforce and using them in ways where we're not stealing off the public sector to then pay more in the private. "A lot of these private projects are being looked at anyway. People are talking about two potential private hospitals in Wānaka. The whole point of our project is to ensure that those are done in a co-ordinated way that doesn't affect the public system, and actually helps the public system." One of those hospitals was a $300 million, five level, 70-bed hospital proposed by property investor, Roa. The $300 million, five level, 70-bed hospital proposed by property investor, Roa. Photo: Supplied / Roa It said last year it would be seeking fast track consent for the build, east of Wānaka. Leftley said the trust was not talking about a "true" public-private partnership where it would be contracting private services, rather solely hospital infrastructure. Foot said Health NZ was too busy "in the throes of delivering health services" to investigate the opportunities for partnership. "It's not really on them to be doing the connecting and bringing parties to the table. So we decided that's work we could help with." Asked if it would consider a privately owned, publicly-run hospital for the region, Health NZ said it would not make any decisions until the completion of its clinical services planning. In July Health NZ announced it would work on a clinical services plan for the Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago districts. Health NZ said it would study the region's current and projected health needs and report back by December. "This planning will help to determine what future publicly funded clinical services may be required in the area and how they will be delivered across the continuum of care," it said. Leftley said the plan was a long-awaited step forward because Health NZ had recognised Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago's needs separately to those of wider Otago and Southland. "We've needed them to be looking at the planning for the 14 years that I've been here, and they've always just been pushing it off, pushing it off, so to have made that step forward now, to actually committing to looking at this region and looking at what healthcare services we need in this region is huge," he said. Foot said the clinical services plan stopped short of a solution but might help to realise the group's vision. "Our leadership group will be looking at funding and resourcing the plan so that we can get this, keep the momentum going, get this moving," she said. Mooney said the discussion seemed to be shifting from "if" there should be a new hospital to "where and when". Foot said the health struggles of "ordinary New Zealanders" in Central Otago and Queenstown Lakes region had long been overlooked. "There's often a lot of comparisons around whether there's deprivation here, whether the community are deserving of health services being close to home - and we do have access to health services - but they're at such distance that it's causing real hardship. "A couple of forums I've been in, clinicians have described the conditions here as 'Third World' in some areas." She said decision-makers had not acknowledged the rapid population growth of Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago districts, instead relying on whole-of-New Zealand population projections. "The data being relied on was woefully inadequate, frankly," Foot said. She noted Health NZ's 10-year health infrastructure plan released in April did not mention any plans for Queenstown Lakes or Central Otago beyond committing to a new rural health hub in the wider "southern" region. Leftley said waiting a decade before planning a new public hospital could be catastrophic. "If we look at what the population of the Southern Lakes region would be at that stage - we would just fall over. It would be dangerous. There would definitely be some deaths related to not having the facilities in the region," he said. The trust said it was waiting for direct feedback from Health Minister Simeon Brown about the hospital plan and would seek an assurance he would investigate solutions. In a statement, Brown said ensuring health services kept up with population increases in the Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago districts was a priority for him. "Earlier this year at the NZ infrastructure investment summit, I made clear that the government was open to all funding and financing proposals that will help us catch up on the infrastructure backlog," he said. "I look forward to receiving Health New Zealand's clinical services plan for the Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago once it's completed and reading through its recommendations." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
