This page contains links to other websites which have news articles which may be of interest to NZNO members. The links will change regularly.

Joint fund plan hints at merger
By KATE NEWTON - The Dominion Post
Last updated 08:13 03/03/2010
Health funding for the whole Wellington region could be run by a single agency from as early as July - a possible first step toward a district health board merger.
Hutt Valley, Wairarapa and Wellington's Capital & Coast district health boards have agreed to a review of how the three boards plan and pay for health services in their regions.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/local/3397232/Joint-fund-plan-hints-at-merger

Ructions start over plans to rewrite personal grievance laws
By MARTIN KAY - The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 03/03/2010
Unions and the Government are already at loggerheads over plans to rewrite personal grievance laws after a discussion paper put forward the option of extending 90-day probation periods for workers.
Council of Trade Unions president Helen Kelly said she was also concerned about potential changes to the definition of `justified dismissal' and the option of reducing the importance of bosses following correct processes when sacking workers.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/3396696/Ructions-start-over-plans-to-rewrite-personal-grievance-laws

Better in prison, elderly told
Home » News » Political
By Eileen Goodwin on Wed, 3 Mar 2010
The elderly might as well commit a crime and go to prison, because they'll get better care "inside", Grey Power national health spokesman Dick Stark says.
Mr Stark said the $90,000 annual cost of keeping a prisoner in jail was generous, compared to resources allocated to the elderly.
Mr Stark's comments come as the Otago District Health Board pauses, at least briefly, on its controversial cuts announced last week to housework help for elderly in Otago and Southland.
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/politics/95870/better-prison-elderly-told

Employee probation could be extended
By MARTIN KAY - The Dominion Post
Last updated 11:56 02/03/2010
The Government has floated a proposal to increase the 90-day probation period for employees in small firms as part of a planned revamp of personal grievance rules.
A discussion paper issued by Labour Minister Kate Wilkinson this morning says lengthening the period could help small businesses better cope with employment problems, which disproportionately affect them.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/politics/3393763/Employee-probation-could-be-extended  
 

ACC axed for injured workers fired or made redundant
By Steve Hart
4:00 AM Sunday Feb 28, 2010
Don't get injured at work: under new laws, ACC will snatch your holiday pay if you're laid off with an injury.
The move, dubbed "retrograde" by unions, was rushed through Parliament this week as part of a raft of cost-cutting measures.
People claiming ACC are paid 80 per cent of their salary after the first week away from work. But if the employer sacks the worker or they are made redundant, their holiday pay will be treated as income and ACC payments will be stopped until it runs out.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/employment/news/article.cfm?c_id=11&objectid=10628950&ref=rss

Ryman to build $90m retirement village
By ALAN WOOD - The Press
Last updated 05:00 27/02/2010
Ryman Healthcare will build a $90 million retirement village in north Christchurch to attract up to 450 residents from suburbs nearby such as Mairehau, Shirley and St Albans.
Building on the site – located on grazing land that has been held by the same owners for nearly 30 years, west of the Ellington Park subdivision – could start in six months, Ryman chief executive Simon Challies said.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/business/national-business/3381312/Ryman-to-build-90m-retirement-village  

Staff levels fail dementia patients, says husband
By GREER McDONALD and TOM HUNT - The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 27/02/2010
A Wellington man says rest home residents with dementia are suffering because existing staff are overworked, despite staffing increases.
Stan Hunt, 80, pays the Enliven Aging Services-run Woburn Home, in Lower Hutt, more than $42,000 a year to care for his wife, Mary, 85, who has advanced Alzheimer's disease.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/local/3381187/Staff-levels-fail-dementia-patients-says-husband  

Government ignoring senior staff in DHB merger
Home » News » Political
Tue, 23 Feb 2010
News: Politics
Health Minister Tony Ryall has ignored warnings from senior doctors and nurses in deciding to merge the run-down Southland District Health Board (DHBs) with its Otago counterpart, their union says.
Mr Ryall's approval for the merger was "premature and unwise", Association of Salaried Medical Specialists executive director Ian Powell said.
"His acceptance of a top-down decision-making process and ignoring of warnings from senior doctors and nurses will only reinforce fears that clinical services in Southland will continue to be run down," Mr Powell said.
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/politics/94670/government-ignoring-senior-staff-dhb-merger  

Shakeup of personal grievances on cards
By VERNON SMALL - The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 22/02/2010
The Government is considering a revamp of personal grievance laws.
The moves include a crackdown on frivolous claims and new rules to control "no win, no fee" advocates who have been seen as ramping up claims against employers.
But unions are concerned that the Government is using the review to reduce employees' rights when they are sacked, including claims based on unfair process.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/3356626/Shakeup-of-personal-grievances-on-cards  

Government must make sure Whanau Ora works
Home » News » Political
Mon, 22 Feb 2010
During its first year in office, the Government managed to run its agenda without suffering any noticeable damage. When difficulties did arise, Prime Minister John Key found remedies and shrugged them off in that way he has of making problems appear insignificant.
He is going to need those attributes again this year, because there is a potential train wreck ahead called Whanau Ora.
There is nothing wrong with the concept, making it work is going to be the tricky part.
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/politics/94560/government-must-make-sure-whanau-ora-works  

Editorial: Access to Whanau Ora a non-issue
3:59 AM Saturday Feb 20, 2010
The prize for the most pointless argument of the week surely goes to those who demanded general access to a Maori welfare proposition called Whanau Ora.
Nobody outside the Government knows very much about the proposal yet. Advanced by the Maori Party, it is the subject of a taskforce report presented to ministers last week and still under wraps.
Tariana Turia has called it "Maori solutions to Maori problems".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10627320&pnum=0  
 

Health centre may lose 24 beds
By KAY BLUNDELL - The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 16/02/2010
Horowhenua's new $16.1 million health centre may lose its 24 hospital beds as the district health board looks to slash spending.
Under the proposal elderly patients would be forced to travel to Palmerston North or Wellington for treatment.
A MidCentral District Health Board advisory committee discussion document, leaked to The Dominion Post, suggests axing assessment, treatment and rehabilitation beds for elderly patients at Horowhenua Health Centre, which opened 2 1/2 years ago. Axing the beds would save $2.3 million a year. Four maternity beds would stay at the centre.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/3332247/Health-centre-may-lose-24-beds  

Controversial Pacificare Trust finally wound up
4:00 AM Tuesday Feb 16, 2010
The High Court at Auckland has ordered the winding up of the beleaguered Pacificare Trust which is mired in debt and controversy.
Last week it was reported that the trust's contract to cater for 200 mental health clients, mostly of Pacific origins, had been transferred to the mainstream Challenge Trust in Botany.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/health/news/article.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10626441&ref=rss  

New social services system will be a Maori model: Key
Home » News » Political
Mon, 15 Feb 2010
News: Politics | Welfare
Families using the new Whanua Ora social services system will have to accept it is based on the Maori way of doing things, Prime Minister John Key says.
Whanau Ora is a Maori Party initiative designed to bring together all the agencies involved in family support and deliver it more effectively.
No details have been announced, but it is likely to involve non-government organisations working on a community basis and using funding from a variety of government sources.
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/politics/93570/new-social-services-system-will-be-a-maori-model-key
 

 

Big changes hurting efficiency of hospitals: study
By Martin Johnston
4:00 AM Monday Feb 15, 2010
Days spent in hospital reduced by almost 40 per cent from 1981-2006. Researchers have warned the Government to avoid major restructuring of the health system after showing that big-bang changes are linked to declining hospital efficiency.
A Waikato University study found a significant increase in hospital efficiency between 1981 and 2006, measured by a reduction of almost 40 per cent in the number of days people spent in hospital. But it also found temporary deteriorations in efficiency after periods of major restructuring.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/health/news/article.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10626227&ref=rss

Bright prognosis for new health centres
By Catherine Masters and Martin Johnston
4:00 AM Saturday Feb 13, 2010
Michael Lamont, for one, is excited at the thought of what can be achieved under the latest change to the health system.
"Integrated family health centres - absolutely," enthuses the head of the Mangere Community Health Trust, then adds "we're building one."
Just as many of you may, or may not, have got your heads around the existence of PHOs (Primary Health Organisations) brought in under Labour, entities called integrated family health centres are to be the latest buzz in health under National.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/health/news/article.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10625807&pnum=0  

Capital and Kapiti health set to merge
By KATE NEWTON - The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 13/02/2010
A single organisation will become responsible for the everyday health of 238,000 Wellington and Kapiti Coast residents after three primary health organisations agreed to merge.
Kapiti PHO, northern suburbs-based Tumai mo te Iwi, and Capital PHO – which already has 155,000 enrolled patients – plan to amalgamate by July 1, their joint chief executive Cathy O'Malley says.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/3323425/Capital-and-Kapiti-health-set-to-merge

New health quality commission
NZPA
Last updated 14:24 12/02/2010
The Government is seeking health professionals to sit on a new commission aimed at improving quality and safety in services provided.
The Quality and Safety Improvement Commission is part of health system reforms that came out of the Ministerial Review Group (MRG) last year. The commission will replace the Quality Improvement Committee.
Health Minister Tony Ryall said serious and sentinel event reporting would shift to the new commission along with other safety and quality monitoring and reporting.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/3321518/New-health-quality-commission  

Labour dubious about Whanau Ora policy
Home » News » Political
Fri, 12 Feb 2010
News: Politics | Welfare | Whanau Ora
Secrecy around the Government's Whanau Ora policy is a sign that ministers couldn't agree about it, Labour's social development spokeswoman Annette King said today.
A report on a new way of delivering welfare to dysfunctional families was presented to Government yesterday.
However, details of what is in The Whanau Ora Taskforce's report are not being made public yet.
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/politics/93202/labour-dubious-about-whanau-ora-policy  

Board approves health merger
Southland and Otago merger heads to Minister
The Southland Times
Last updated 14:50 11/02/2010
LATEST: The Southland District Health Board voted by a majority of four this afternoon to merge with the Dunedin-based Otago District Health Board.
Seven of the board members voted for the merger after about an hour of discussion. Three were against the move: Dot Wilson, Karen Goffe and Kaye Crowther.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/3317153/Board-approves-health-merger  
 

Whanau Ora report kept under wraps
The Dominion Post
Last updated 08:10 12/02/2010
The Government has received the Whanau Ora Task Force report on potentially radical changes to the delivery of social services, but is refusing to make it public for another two weeks.
Whanau Ora is the Maori Party's flagship social services policy, which could see millions of dollars of health and social welfare spending devolved to community groups.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/politics/3318963/Whanau-Ora-report-kept-under-wraps  

11 FEBRUARY, 2010
Tariana Turia - Handover of Report from the Taskforce on Whanau Centred Initiatives
First of all, I want to thank Professor Sir Mason Durie for his words of inspiration; his outstanding leadership of the Taskforce on Whanau-Centred Initiatives and the hope he gives us all, that whanau ora is the pathway towards the transformation of our people.
Today we take a major step forward. It is a day in which we acknowledge the potential for great change is within our reach.
http://www.beehive.govt.nz/speech/handover+report+taskforce+whanau+centred+initiatives  


New trust to deliver social services to whanau
By Claire Trevett
4:00 AM Thursday Feb 11, 2010
The Whanau Ora Taskforce has recommended hand-picked providers be placed on "high-trust" contracts to deliver social services under the Maori Party's Whanau Ora policy.
Papers reveal the Whanau Ora Taskforce report, due to be reported to the Government today, will recommend an independent trust be set up and given public money to administer the new policy.
The papers show officials have sounded a note of caution about some recommendations, saying there is a risk providers will get public funding with only limited accountability.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10625416&ref=rss

Racism claim over contract move
By Simon Collins
4:00 AM Thursday Feb 11, 2010
Health officials are being accused of racism for deciding to transfer a mental health contract for Pacific people from Mangere's bankrupt Pacificare Trust to a mainstream agency.
Manukau Urban Maori Authority chief executive Willie Jackson and Waipareira Trust head John Tamihere say the Counties-Manukau District Health Board (DHB) treated their own bid to take over the contract with a "patronising, condescending and racist attitude".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/health/news/article.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10625492&pnum=0  

Criticism brings hospice standards investigation
By BERNARD CARPINTER - The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 11/02/2010
The standard of care at Cranford Hospice in Hastings is to be investigated after a complaint to the health and disability commissioner.
The investigation follows mounting criticism of Cranford – the only hospice in Hawke's Bay – since a management restructure in 2007.
The Hawke's Bay District Health Board's acting manager for planning and funding, Ken Foote, said yesterday that an independent team would investigate allegations. A summary of findings would be made public after it reported in early April.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/3313770/Criticism-brings-hospice-standards-investigation  
 

Papers reveal service cut plan
By JANINE RANKIN - The Manawatu Standard
Last updated 12:00 09/02/2010
Hospital beds at Horowhenua, Palmerston North Hospital's rehabilitation ward and sexual health and diabetes services could be chopped in MidCentral Health's attempt to claw back a forecast $8.9 million deficit this year. Cuts to renal services and medicine budgets are also proposed in leaked documents from a district health board hospital advisory committee workshop last week.
The media was not invited to the workshop which faced the challenge of complying with Health Minister Tony Ryall's instructions to break even and to deliver a "recovery plan" for wiping out the deficit.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/3306625/Papers-reveal-service-cut-plan

Stop work, retirement village told by council
By KAREN GOODGER - The Nelson Mail
Last updated 15:00 09/02/2010
Work has stalled on the final stage of the multimillion-dollar Ernest Rutherford Retirement Village in Stoke due to a dispute with Nelson City Council which is now threatening more than a dozen jobs.
Andrew Mitchell, the development manager for Ryman Healthcare which owns the village, said the council issued a stopwork notice last week preventing about 17 contract builders from doing any work.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/3307846/Stop-work-retirement-village-told-by-council  

Key confirms GST increase being considered
By MARTIN KAY - Stuff.co.nz
Last updated 14:31 09/02/2010
BREAKING NEWS: The Government is considering increasing GST to as high as 15 percent as part of planned changes to the tax system, Prime Minister John Key has confirmed.
In a statement to Parliament, Mr Key said a ''modest increase'' in GST - presently 12.5 per cent - ''to no more than 15 per cent'' was being investigated, but more work would be done before any decisions were made.
Any increase would have to be accompanied by across-the-board reductions in personal tax rates and ''upfront increases'' in benefits, pensions and Working For Families payments to compensate for higher prices, posing a difficult balancing act.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/3307911/Key-confirms-GST-increase-being-considered

Super-clinics plan in big health shake-up
By Martin Johnston
4:00 AM Monday Feb 8, 2010
Primary health services are about to undergo their biggest shake-up in nearly a decade, shifting some hospital services into the community and creating new super-clinics.
The kinds of services the integrated family health centres might offer are expected to include minor skin surgery, referral to diagnostic imaging and consultations with hospital specialists.
The shake-up is also likely to help meet Health Minister Tony Ryall's aim to halve the number of primary health organisations (PHOs), the contracting groups that now sit between district health boards and health providers such as GPs and nursing practices.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/health/news/article.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10624794&pnum=0  

Accountability will be key to Whanau Ora taskforce report
By Claire Trevett
4:00 AM Monday Feb 8, 2010
A taskforce report on the new Whanau Ora policy is expected to suggest providers delivering it are held accountable to actual improvements in a family's health and social welfare.
The Whanau Ora taskforce report is due on Thursday on the system under which private providers will be contracted to provide all the social and health needs of individual families, rather than dispensing help through different government departments.
Associate Social Development Minister Tariana Turia said it would allow those providers to work a lot more closely to monitor a family's overall wellbeing than could currently happen with multiple government departments looking after separate aspects.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10624772&ref=rss  

'Govt pressure' forcing health board's hand
Updated at 6:58pm on 8 February 2010
A doctors' union says government pressure on Wellington's health board is forcing it to consider cutting 18 management jobs.
A Capital and Coast District District Health Board spokesperson says 18 jobs might be permanently eliminated and another 32 remade into new positions. Most of the jobs involved are administrative, but some are held by doctors and nurses.
The board says the proposal could save about $2 million a year.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/stories/2010/02/08/1247f1c4c0bc  
 

Editorial: Aged care no place for penny-pinching
The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 08/02/2010
OPINION: Unless you draw an unusual degree of comfort from Health Minister Tony Ryall's promises of funding increases to come, there is only one conclusion to draw from the latest report on the death of a rest home patient: pray that you do not end up frail, old, demented and in the care of strangers.
Because if you do, there is no guarantee you will live out your life in dignity.
Nola Margaret Revell, 82, died on July 30 last year, four days after she was found on the floor of a Gisborne rest home with a walking frame on top of her and another patient kneeling over her pulling her arm. Both patients suffered from dementia, as did a third patient also in the room.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/opinion/3301525/Editorial-Aged-care-no-place-for-penny-pinching  

Wellington Hospital trims 49 management roles
By KATE NEWTON - The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 08/02/2010
Doctors and nurses who hold management roles are among nearly 50 staff at Wellington Hospital waiting to hear if they have lost their jobs.
A hundred back-office jobs at Auckland and Waitemata District Health Boards have already been disestablished since late last year, with unions warning that clinical staff could find themselves picking up the paperwork.
Staff at Capital and Coast District Health Board were told last week of a proposal to trim 49 management and administration roles, including the board's entire human resources unit.
Some new positions will be created, but at least 18 people will be left without a job if the proposal goes ahead.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/3301577/Wellington-Hospital-trims-49-management-roles  

No plans to meet staff on merger
By Elspeth McLean on Mon, 8 Feb 2010
Southland District Health Board chairman Paul Menzies does not plan to meet nurses and some senior doctors over their "eleventh hour" concerns about the possible merger of the Otago and Southland boards.
The Southland board meets on Thursday to decide whether it should join Otago in recommending to Health Minister Tony Ryall that he establish one Southern DHB.
Mr Menzies said Thursday's decision would be a momentous one, but part of the consultation process was the desire for the boards to have a hand in shaping their own future.
Late last week, about 400 members of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation at Southland Hospital followed the lead of 24 senior doctors by raising issues publicly about the merger process.
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/92277/no-plans-meet-staff-merger

Unpaid workers owed $220,000 but can't find the boss
4:00 AM Saturday Feb 6, 2010
Almost 100 redundant staff of Mangere's troubled Pacificare rest home are owed $220,000 in unpaid wages because no one will admit to being their employer.
The Guardian Trust, which has been the mortgagee in possession of the rest home since 2007, says the staff were employed by the Mangere East Medical Care Services Trust (MET).
But MET trustee Ian Anderson, who also owns the rest home's $10 million land and buildings which he operated for 21 years under the name "Culverden", says the employer was the Guardian Trust.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/news/print.cfm?objectid=10624491  

New plan for at-risk families
By COLIN ESPINER - The Press
Last updated 05:00 06/02/2010
Plans to devolve millions of dollars in social services spending to community groups are set to be unveiled next week.
A report due on Thursday from the Government's Whanau Ora task force will outline a new approach to welfare and health service delivery for New Zealand's most at-risk families.
The Government plans to earmark millions of dollars from health and welfare budgets for a new style of community delivery, bypassing state agencies.
A ministerial group, led by Health Minister Tony Ryall, has been discussing implementation of the policy, which is likely to receive ring-fenced funding in the May Budget.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/3299131/New-plan-for-at-risk-families  

Audit reveals care concerns
By REBECCA TODD - The Press
Last updated 05:00 06/02/2010
An emergency audit of a Christchurch rest home has raised concerns over the levels of patient restraint being used and problems with its dietary service.
The audit of the Windermere rest home in Papanui said the problems resulted from "poor management and of clinical leadership".
The Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) will not release details of the problems identified.
A Windermere staff member raised concerns in October, saying residents were not being helped out of bed until mid-afternoon and not being showered or fed properly.
Staffing levels were "disgraceful" and residents were being "neglected", the staff member said.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/3299163/Audit-reveals-care-concerns  

Late loan reprieves rest home
By AAYLEY GALE - The Nelson Mail
Last updated 14:41 05/02/2010
Collingwood's Joan Whiting Rest Home has been saved from closure by a last-minute interest-free loan from a charitable trust.
The Nelson Marlborough Hospitals' Charitable Trust, which is not part of the district health board, has agreed to lend the home $130,000, which will keep it running for another year, said Joan Whiting board of trustees chairman Chris Mitson.
Mr Mitson said the offer from the trust came in an email he received two minutes after the end of a board meeting late last week, at which members reluctantly agreed to close the home next month.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/3297943/Late-loan-reprieves-rest-home  
 

System under fire after aged-care death
By MARTY SHARPE - The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 04/02/2010
The death of a rest-home resident after an altercation with another dementia patient has prompted fresh calls for an overhaul of the aged-care system.
This is the third time in a year that a coroner has called for a review of rest-home funding and it follows a damning report by Auditor-General Lyn Provost that criticised the Health Ministry for the way it monitored rest homes.
Health Minister Tony Ryall says increasing rates of dementia are one of the biggest challenges for families and the health system in the next 20 years and has promised more money for aged care this year.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/3290963/System-under-fire-after-aged-care-death

Push to merge Primary Health Organisations
NZPA
Last updated 08:43 04/02/2010
Five District Health Boards are been given a push to merge some of their Primary Health Organisations (PHOs) as Health Minister Tony Ryall looks for savings in the health service.
Mr Ryall criticised the 81 PHOs, saying there were too many bureaucrats, last year and since then several have merged together.
Four PHOs catered to 30 percent of the population, while at the other end of the scale 41 looked after 12 percent.
This year's budget would have smaller than usual increases for health but costs and the population continue to grow.
PHOs are funded by district health boards to provide essential primary health care services and the Government use them to roll out subsidised services.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/3292054/Push-to-merge-Primary-Health-Organisations

Greens: Rest Homes Are Not Prisons
Thursday, 4 February 2010, 12:55 pm
Press Release: Green Party
Rest Homes Are Not Prisons
The Green party strongly supports the Hastings Coroner’s call for an overhaul of the aged care sector, and his call for an urgent review of staffing levels in aged care facilities.
“However we do not support his call for CCTV cameras in rest homes to help manage dementia patients and identify aggressive behaviour,” Green Party Aged Care spokesperson Sue Kedgley said.
“Better staffing levels, not CCTV cameras, are the key to improving the level of care in aged care facilities. Electronic surveillance can never substitute for quality care giving.
“Rest homes are not prisons,” she said. “We need healthcare for our sick and elderly, not policing.”
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1002/S00059.htm  
 

Hutt Valley DHB boss gets national job
NZPA
Last updated 17:17 01/02/2010
Hutt Valley District Health Board chief executive for the last seven years, Chai Chuah, has been appointed the first national director of the National Health Board (NHB) business unit at the Ministry of Health. Director-General of Health Stephen McKernan said the appointment of the national director was a significant step in the development of the NHB business unit, which has been set up to provide a better national focus on health spending. Mr Chuah was seconded to the role of interim national director last October, and was well known in the sector, Mr McKernan said.
Former Treasury secretary Murray Horn has already been appointed chairman of the advisory board for the NHB.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/3282813/Hutt-Valley-DHB-boss-gets-national-job  

Ian McPherson: Collaboration best way to stretch health dollar
New Zealand's public health system has been examined and the prognosis is not great. As a small, cash-strapped country it is time we reset our expectations of our health system.
But how many more reports do we need before we do more than just paper over the cracks? Reports - from the OECD to the Ministerial Review Group - warn that to maintain current health delivery standards, we'll have to ration services or compromise on other areas that we value equally - like government superannuation or lower taxes.
There are better solutions than meekly accepting a second-world health system - although they do require some shifts in thinking.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/health/news/article.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10623460&pnum=0

Teachers union slags standards
By JARED MORGAN - The Southland Times
Last updated 05:00 01/02/2010
The ranks of southern schoolbuses will be joined by one for the teachers tomorrow as the primary teachers union rails against "untested" national standards.
A nationwide national standards bus tour, spearheaded by the union, NZEI Te Riu Roa, will start in Bluff and Northland as schools go back for the 2010 school year.
The standards set benchmarks to measure every child aged 5 to 12 at above, below or well below national standards in literacy and numeracy
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/3280069/Teachers-union-slags-standards  

Top doctors earning over $500,000
By KATE NEWTON - The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 01/02/2010
A handful of top doctors now earn half-million-dollar salaries, despite a tough year for the health sector.
However, unions representing health workers say pay needs to increase across the board – not just at the top.
Annual reports for the 21 district health boards show seven clinicians working in the public health system now earn more than $500,000 a year, including two at Wellington Hospital and one at Hutt Hospital. About 60 others earn more than $350,000.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/3279885/Top-doctors-earning-over-500-000  

Board moves to ease fears over report
By GILES BROWN - The Press
Last updated 05:00 30/01/2010
Healthcare recommendations for the West Coast do not herald the end of hospital services for Coasters, the region's health board says.
A report released this week by the West Coast District Health Board and the Health Ministry recommended that Grey Base Hospital have about 49 beds instead of the current count of 100.
The report recommended the Greymouth hospital become a "rural centre of excellence", with most specialists flying in from Canterbury.
Many patients would travel to Christchurch for complex surgery.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/3277383/Board-moves-to-ease-fears-over-report

Feilding rest home resigns from aged care group
By JANINE RANKIN - Manawatu Standard
Last updated 12:00 30/01/2010
Feilding rest home and hospital Ranfurly Manor has resigned from the national Aged Care Association over what it sees as its defence of sub-standard care.
It also disputes criticism from the group that represents 80 per cent of the country's aged care facilities about the MidCentral District Health Board's actions against some members.
Nurse manager Anna Blackwell withdrew membership following a meeting in Palmerston North late last year after the board's sudden closure of the Rose A Lea rest home. It had moved in after an elderly woman's leg was tied to a bed, and the discovery of other lapses in care and safety.
Ms Blackwell said the meeting was part of a vendetta against the board and offered nothing to improve the quality of care in rest homes: "I have no patience for sitting in a room defending horrendous practice."
http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/3278488/Feilding-rest-home-resigns-from-aged-care-group

Village expansion
Marianne Gillingham
Tradespeople in this district [Gisborne] should be in for a bonanza of work with the start of a major new retirement complex at Lytton West within the next couple of months . . . as well as a big expansion at Beetham Village, including a new hospital.Beetham Village yesterday announced the establishment of a multipurpose aged-care hospital complex, together with assisted care apartments that will be completed this year. Strong sales of villas, totalling 26 over the past year, together with escalating demand, has prompted the company's decision. Meanwhile, Ryman Healthcare has been granted resource consent to build a 'full-scale, comprehensive retirement village' on a 3.7 hectare block of land in the Copperfields subdivision, near Beetham Village. The Ryman Village will provide a continuum of care for retired people, said development manager Andrew Mitchell.
http://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/article/?id=15839  

Submissions favour combined health board
Home » News » Dunedin
By Elspeth McLean on Fri, 29 Jan 2010
News: Dunedin
Submissions on the single joint Otago-Southland district health board proposal narrowly favour the idea, with most opposition coming from Southland responses.
A report on the consultation carried out last November and early December was released yesterday, ahead of Otago and Southland chief executive Brian Rousseau's report and recommendation to the boards, which will not be revealed until next Tuesday. The Otago board will be the first to discuss the issue at its first meeting for the year next Thursday. The consultation report says those supporting the single board made up 54% of responses, with 34% opposed and 12% unsure. More than half of the 212 responses came from Southland (62%) and half of those, 66 submissions, opposed the move.
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/90959/submissions-favour-combined-health-board 

Strong support for big rise in minimum wage
By Claire Trevett
4:00 AM Monday Jan 18, 2010
Sixty-one per cent of people want the minimum wage lifted to $15 an hour, a Herald Summer Survey has found, weeks before the Government is to set the wage for this year.
The minimum wage is now $12.50 an hour, and the Cabinet is expected to decide within a fortnight whether to increase it.
Unions and business groups are predicting a rise to $13 this year, but the unions are campaigning for $15.
The Herald Summer Survey of about 2300 people showed significant support for $15 an hour.
Asked what the wage should be, just over 60 per cent of respondents opted for that figure.
Women were generally more in favour than men of this increase.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfmc_id=1&objectid=10620765&pnum=0 

Union wants better deal for caregivers in aged care
Updated at 7:29pm on 16 January 2010
The Nurses Organisation says changes are needed so caregivers in aged care can be recognised for skills and training acquired in other countries.
Some 284 caregivers responded to a survey of 1000 members of the Nursing Organisation. The union released the findings on Friday.
The survey says there are between 18,000 and 65,000 unregulated caregivers working in aged care in New Zealand - mostly middle-aged women earning an average of $14.40 an hour.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/stories/2010/01/15/1247ec396216  

Untrained caregivers performing nurses' tasks - survey
FRI, 15 JAN 2010 1:38P.M.
Caregivers working in rest homes are often performing tasks outside of their skill areas and more suited to registered nurses, a survey by the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) has found.
The survey of 1000 of NZNO's 5000 caregiver members found there was confusion about routine tasks, such as giving out medication, which required a registered nurse's expertise.
Medication was "very frequently" given out without clinical supervision, and blood glucose monitoring and catheterisation were "frequently undertaken" without supervision, NZNO researcher Leonie Walker said.
http://www.3news.co.nz/Untrained-caregivers-performing-nurses-tasks---survey/tabid/423/articleID/137381/Default.aspx  

Ryall exaggerating health savings, says Labour
By MARTIN KAY - The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 15/01/2010
Labour is accusing Health Minister Tony Ryall of exaggerating the potential savings from his flagship health reforms by up to $350 million.
Mr Ryall said in October that pooling district health board tasks such as payroll and procurement would release up to $700m over five years for frontline services.
But Labour health spokeswoman Ruth Dyson said papers issued under the Official Information Act showed the savings could be just half that.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/3231627/Ryall-exaggerating-health-savings-says-Labour 

 
 

Editorial comment December 23 2009
By Sue Newman
The face of aged care in New Zealand is changing dramatically.
No longer is entering a rest home a lifestyle option that people can choose when they decide, rather it’s something that is only available after a long and complex assessment process. The current trend is for “aging in place”, a scheme that encourages people to remain in their own homes as long as possible, with the appropriate support structure in place to ensure they can cope with daily living. All of that is fine, providing sufficient Government funds are available to ensure that support is in place and working appropriately.
http://www.ashburtonguardian.co.nz/news/ashburton-news/editorial-comment-december-23-2009-1073-0.html  

Editorial: The elderly must be able to rest easy
The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 23/12/2009
OPINION: How a nation cares for the very old is a good measure of how compassionate a society is. That is one reason why all New Zealanders should be concerned with what is going on in the country's rest homes. Another, more selfish, one is that as life expectancies grow, there is an increasing chance that a rest home is where people will spend their final years.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/opinion/editorials/3188180/Editorial-The-elderly-must-be-able-to-rest-easy  

Staff upset at transfer of service
By REBECCA TODD - The Press
Last updated 05:00 21/12/2009
Twenty staff at Christchurch's Work Assessment and Rehabilitation Services got a nasty surprise when told their jobs will be gone in the new year.
However, the Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) said all staff would be offered redeployment.
National Union of Public Employees convenor Paul Shennan said staff were told the rehabilitation service would be contracted out to a private provider next year.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch/3180168/Staff-upset-at-transfer-of-service

Rest home put residents at risk, audit finds
By GREER MCDONALD and KATE NEWTON - The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 23/12/2009
report into Rose A Lea Rest Home has uncovered evidence of a serious sexual assault, inappropriate restraint, pervasive filth and physical and verbal abuse among staff and residents.
The audit, made public by MidCentral District Health Board last night, showed residents of the 25-bed facility in Palmerston North were at risk of harm because of a litany of non-compliance. The rest home is closed until further notice.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/3188379/Rest-home-put-residents-at-risk-audit-finds  
 

Patient bullied before death
By GREER McDONALD and EMILY WATT - The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 21/12/2009
A Wellington rest-home patient was being bullied by other patients and died from head injuries after a series of suspicious falls.
The death of Florence May Coombes, 98, who died in Hutt Hospital on May 21 last year after three falls at the Norman Kirk Rest Home, has prompted a renewed call from a coroner for an overhaul of the aged care sector. It could mean CCTV cameras in rest homes to improve the monitoring of patients with late-stage dementia.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/3180058/Patient-bullied-before-death  

Editorial: Damning report on rest homes should shatter complacency
The Press
Last updated 05:00 19/12/2009
OPINION: When instances of elderly people being neglected or abused in a rest home have arisen in the past, there might have been a tendency to regard these as isolated and exceptional cases.
But the report of the Auditor-General into the standard of services provided by rest homes has shattered that reassuring belief.
Instead, it paints a damning picture of the sector and, in particular, the quality of monitoring by the Ministry of Health.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/opinion/editorials/3178019/Editorial-Damning-report-on-rest-homes-should-shatter-complacency  

Hospice South Canterbury funding record
The Timaru Herald
Last updated 07:01 18/12/2009
The level of government funding for Hospice South Canterbury has hit a new high, with the announcement of an additional $40,000 to the organisation each year. It brings the percentage of central government funding to 68 per cent, just shy of the Government's 70 per cent target.
The money would be put towards upskilling staff and helping develop the hospice's grief and loss workforce, board spokesperson Alan Munro said.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/3174486/Hospice-South-Canterbury-funding-record  

Planned approach urged for elderly care
Fri, 18 Dec 2009
News: National
A more planned approach to elderly care services is needed, says the industry association for home support services.
"Currently there is an ad hoc approach to home support, and the funding can vary markedly across the country," said New Zealand Home Health Association (NZHHA) chief executive Jane Cumming. A University of Auckland study had found that the number of rest home and private hospital residents in Auckland with high dependency issues had risen, requiring a different approach to their care, she said.
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/86531/planned-approach-urged-elderly-care  

Compromise possible in new health facility
By HAYLEY GALE - The Nelson Mail
Last updated 13:08 18/12/2009
Golden Bay nursing and health support staff may reach a compromise about working for a trust in a new integrated health facility, following negotiations between union representatives and the district health board.
In October, an overwhelming majority of Golden Bay members of both the New Zealand Nurses Association (NZNO) and the Public Services Association (PSA) voted against working for a private community trust because of fears of pay cuts, staff cuts and poorer working conditions. http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/3176053/Compromise-possible-in-new-health-facility  
 

 

Ministry systems flawed - report
By JANINE RANKIN - Manawatu Standard
Last updated 12:00 17/12/2009
The failure of Health Ministry checks to spot dangers for elderly residents in 10 MidCentral Health rest homes is typical of an unreliable national audit system.
An auditor-general's report into the effectiveness of rest home auditing, released yesterday, shows widespread lack of confidence in the ministry's systems.
Two-thirds of the district health boards can't rely on the Health Ministry certification process as an assurance that services are up to standard.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/3170289/Ministry-systems-flawed-report  

Report reveals serious failures
By REBECCA TODD - The Press
Last updated 05:00 18/12/2009
The daughter of a man who died in a Christchurch rest home says his "undignified, painful" final months could have been different if he was properly monitored.
An Auditor-General's report released on Wednesday found serious failures in rest-home care had not been picked up because of poor monitoring.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/3173647/Report-reveals-serious-failures  

Rest homes 'turning away' sick
By REBECCA TODD - The Press
Last updated 05:00 18/12/2009
Sick people are being turned away from rest homes because they will cost too much to care for, a Christchurch rest home manager says.
Stephen Shamy, general manager of the Rannerdale Veterans Hospital and Home in Upper Riccarton, said the Government needed to review its funding for aged residential care.
The call comes as an Auckland University study shows people in residential aged care are older, frailer and more dependent than 20 years ago.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch/3173640/Rest-homes-turning-away-sick  

Rest Home Launches Exclusive Staff Benefits Card
By Radius Residential Care Ltd
Christmas has come early for more than 1200 Radius Residential Care aged care employees who were today presented with an exclusive staff benefits card giving access to a variety of major retailer’s products at discounted prices.
The special ‘Radius Staff Benefits Card’ is a new company initiative that enables valued employees to redeem 5 – 40% discounts on products at retailers such as Bunnings Warehouse, Beaurepaires, Guthrie Bowron and Queen B Linens.
“Radius is delighted to be able to offer this new exclusive staff benefits card to our valued employees. It’s a small way of giving thanks for the tireless work they do caring for the elderly and disabled in our 22 rest home hospital facilities across New Zealand”, says Brien Cree, Chief Executive Radius Residential Care Ltd.
http://www.infonews.co.nz/news.cfm?l=1&t=99&id=46175  

 

Rest-home audit flaws
By REBECCA TODD - The Press
Last updated 05:00 17/12/2009
Serious failures in rest-home care have not been picked up because of poor ministry monitoring, the Auditor-General says.
In a report yesterday, Auditor-General Lyn Provost said the Ministry of Health had been too slow to improve monitoring of the country's 715 rest homes, which cared for 34,000 residents.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/3169039/Rest-home-audit-flaws

Here is the link to the Auditor General’s report on the “Effectiveness of arrangements to check the standard of services provided by rest homes”.
http://www.oag.govt.nz/2009/rest-homes  

Computer virus cripples Waikato DHB
NZPA
Last updated 11:01 17/12/2009
Waikato District Health Board has been crippled by a computer worm which has seen every PC in the organisation shut down.
While the main hospital in Hamilton and smaller outlying hospitals were continuing to function, spokeswoman Mary-Ann Gill said it was important people only came for treatment if it was absolutely necessary.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/3171006/Computer-virus-cripples-Waikato-DHB  

Nurses to broaden skill set
16/12/2009 15:32:01
Enrolled nurses are jumping at the chance to up-skill.
The Nursing Council has announced changes with all second level nurses to now be called enrolled nurses, rather than nurse assistants. It will also give enrolled nurses a broader scope of practice, and reinstate training for them from next year.
Nurses Organisation Enrolled Nurse Section chair Robyn Hewlett says the name 'nurse assistant' has caused problems, because people think they are just nurse aides when they are a qualified and regulated workforce. She says as a result enrolled nurses' scope of practice has shrunk over the years. She hopes enrolled nurses will soon be able to work back in acute surgical and orthopedic areas.
Ms Hewlett says enrolled nurses are valuable to the New Zealand health system, because they provide hands-on care.
http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/newsdetail1.asp?storyID=168054  
 

Twenty-year study tracks changes in rest homes
Tuesday, 15 December 2009, 11:10 am
Press Release: University of Auckland
Media release
Twenty-year study tracks changes in rest homes and private hospitals
A 20-year University of Auckland study has shown that the population in residential aged care has become older, frailer and more dependent, suggesting that new models of care are required.
"New Zealanders are staying well and independent until a much more advanced age than they once did, and only go into residential care when they really need to," says lead researcher Dr Michal Boyd. "When they do enter care they often require more assistance, and it's important that we recognise and respond to this."
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0912/S00192.htm

Long wait for full rest home audit coverage
Three Kapiti reports available
By ALASTAIR STEWART
Last updated 14:05 14/12/2009
A two-year wait is in store before a full picture of how rest homes are performing is made public.
In an effort to boost transparency among rest homes, the Health Ministry had started releasing audit summaries as they were completed.
But previous reports would not be shown to the public, and some homes were two years away from their next audit.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/local/kapiti-observer/3158444/Long-wait-for-full-rest-home-audit-coverage

Problems in aged care being dismissed, claims union
By GREER McDONALD - The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 14/12/2009
The mistreatment of the elderly in aged care facilities is not being taken seriously by the Government, the New Zealand Nurses Organisation says.
The union said it was disappointed that the parliamentary health select committee had chosen not to hold an inquiry into the quality and standards of care in residential facilities for the aged.
Union industrial adviser Rob Haultain said the public had been outraged over recent examples of mistreatment of the elderly in care.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/national/3155694/Problems-in-aged-care-being-dismissed-claims-union

More than 400 rest home residents put at risk
By JANINE RANKIN - Manawatu Standard
Last updated 12:00 12/12/2009
More than 400 of the frailest, oldest, most vulnerable residents in the MidCentral Health district have been put at serious risk of harm in aged care facilities in the last 18 months.
Special issues audits of one-quarter of the district's rest homes and hospitals prompted by complaints have uncovered lapses in standards.
In the most recent case, the MidCentral District Health Board closed down Rose A Lea rest home after "compelling evidence", including a photograph of an elderly woman with her leg tied down to the bed.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/3154797/More-than-400-rest-home-residents-put-at-risk
 

Nurses upset over lack of aged care action
Published: 8:34AM Friday December 11, 2009
The Nurses Organisation says it is disappointed but not surprised that aged health care is being ignored yet again despite daily failures in the sector.
Parliament's Health Select Committee has decided not to undertake an inquiry into the quality and standards provided in residential aged care.
Nurses industrial advisor Rob Haultain says the organisation has made numerous requests of successive governments for mandated staffing levels.
http://tvnz.co.nz/health-news/nurses-upset-over-lack-aged-care-action-3280258
 

Cost puts many off healthcare
By REBECCA TODD - The Press
Last updated 05:00 11/12/2009
Up to a third of New Zealanders are missing out on healthcare because of cost, a new report says.
A Canterbury surgeon says the level of unmet healthcare needs is large but hidden by the slashing of hospital waiting lists to include only those being treated within six months.
An Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report showed nearly a third of New Zealanders on below-average incomes had missed out on healthcare because they could not afford it.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/3149929/Cost-puts-many-off-healthcare  

Extra staff for Lakes Hospital
Home » News » Queenstown Lakes
By Joanne Carroll on Fri, 11 Dec 2009
Your Town: Queenstown | News: Queenstown Lakes
The Southland District Health Board yesterday approved extra staff for the Lakes District Hospital at Frankton after being told patients and staff are at risk because of increased demand for services.
Board chairman Paul Menzies said the board "reluctantly" accepted the recommendation to hire more staff.
"It was a difficult decision because it's not sustainable at that level. We are spending money we don't have," he said.
http://www.odt.co.nz/your-town/queenstown/85290/extra-staff-lakes-hospital  

'No money' for more hospital staff
Home » News » Queenstown Lakes
By Joanne Carroll on Thu, 10 Dec 2009
News: Queenstown Lakes | Health
A Southland District Health Board committee yesterday failed to approve extra staff for Lakes District Hospital despite being told patients and staff are at risk because of increased demand for services.
Board chairman and committee member Paul Menzies said the committee could not come to a decision because it was "stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea".
"It is difficult for us. We want to support the community and staff but we've got no money."
A report presented to the hospital advisory committee recommended extra staff for Lakes District Hospital (LDH) to reduce the risk to patients and staff.
Mr Menzies said the extra staff would not solve the problem of people going to hospital when they could have been treated by a GP.
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/queenstown-lakes/85149/039no-money039-more-hospital-staff  

Health minister looking for lessons from Labtests debacle
Virginia McMillan
vmcmillan@clear.net.nz
DAILY NEWS: Health minister doesn’t want DHBs turning “gun shy” as a result of Labtests debacle
Health minister Tony Ryall is stepping in to prevent the Labtests debacle making DHBs “gun shy” of large-scale contracting and money-saving changes.
The minister is set to appoint a small group to distil the lessons from the Auckland DHBs’ switch to new community laboratory provider Labtests, he told the NZMA council meeting in Wellington today.
http://www.nzdoctor.co.nz/news?article=8d311f08-987f-4c4b-ae78-b1676a9f3e16  

Residential building at eight year low
TUE, 08 DEC 2009 12:21P.M.
The amount of residential building work fell to an eight year low in the September quarter as a run of consecutive declines extended to two years.
Figures published by Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) today show the seasonally adjusted volume of residential building work fell 5.4 percent in the quarter, and is now 39.8 percent lower than in the September 2007 quarter.
http://www.3news.co.nz/Residential-building-at-eight-year-low/tabid/421/articleID/133188/cat/528/Default.aspx  

'Smart' slashing of Hutt health care
By SIMON EDWARDS - Hutt News
Last updated 14:56 08/12/2009
Doing things smarter rather than cutting services is the approach Hutt Valley District Health Board wants to take as it tries to rein in spending.
Acting chief executive Michael Hundleby said it was not yet known by how much the Government would trim funding for DHBs because of the "global recession".
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/local/hutt-news/3137181/Smart-slashing-of-Hutt-health-care  

Hospital patients, staff 'at risk'
By AMY MILNE - The Southland Times
Last updated 05:00 09/12/2009
Patients and staff at Lakes District Hospital are being put at risk because of increased demand for services, a report says.
The report, to be tabled at the Southland District Health Board Hospital Advisory Committee meeting today, recommends extra staff be put into the hospital while an alternative model of care is developed and implemented.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/3141155/Hospital-patients-staff-at-risk  
 

Union says workers not getting paid for breaks
By JOSH REICH - The Nelson Mail
Last updated 13:00 01/12/2009
Some Nelson workers are getting "ripped off" by employers who are forcing them to either work an extra 30 minutes a day unpaid or docking pay to cover their lunch break, a union leader says.
The previous Labour government introduced a law entitling employees to specific break times of two 10-minute breaks and one half-hour lunch break, to be equally spaced.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/3114099/Union-says-workers-not-getting-paid-for-breaks

Hutt Hospital gets tough on bully doctors
By RUTH HILL - The Dominion Post
Last updated 08:47 02/12/2009
Hutt Hospital is cracking down on bullying by senior doctors, which has included yelling at colleagues and humiliating them in public.
In a report to Hutt Valley District Health Board yesterday, chief medical adviser Robert Logan said several senior medical staff were guilty of "problem behaviours". Nurses Organisation spokeswoman Suzanne Rolls said a survey of 1000 nursing students this year found one in five said they had been bullied.
She praised Hutt Valley for taking action. "To beat bullying, we need to make people feel comfortable about reporting such incidents and be sure they're not going to be re-victimised by speaking out."
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/local/3117126/Hutt-Hospital-gets-tough-on-bully-doctors  

Minister compromises on solo mum study loans
By Claire Trevett
4:00 AM Wednesday Dec 2, 2009
Social Development Minister Paula Bennett has made a small compromise on cuts to a study allowance for single mums at university - she will announce today a new loan of $500 for those studying in areas such as nursing, medicine and teaching.
The loan follows controversy over Ms Bennett's decision to cut off the Training Incentive Allowance to single parents and those on invalids' benefits who were studying at a tertiary level.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10612920&pnum=0  

Nurse's outstanding contribution recognised
By AMY MILNE - The Southland Times
Last updated 05:00 02/12/2009
Trish Clark is one of Invercargill's quiet achievers.
The modest specialist cancer nurse has been recognised for her outstanding contribution and commitment to her profession and the New Zealand Nursing Organisation by being given a service award at its annual meeting in Wellington last month.
Mrs Clark said she was overwhelmed and thrilled to have received the award.
"I did not know I was going to receive it. It was lovely to be recognised for all the voluntary work. It's also nice for my family who've supported me for all my after hours work that I've done."
http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/3116674/Nurses-outstanding-contribution-recognised

Hospital mishaps hit patients
By JANINE RANKIN - Manawatu Standard
Last updated 12:00 01/12/2009
Palmerston North Hospital has vowed to learn from eight serious medical mishaps in the past year.
MidCentral Health accounted for eight of the 308 serious and sentinel events reported around New Zealand in the year to June.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/3112995/Hospital-mishaps-hit-patients

Health board sees patient tragedies fall
By KATE NEWTON | 1st December 2009
The circumstances that led to the death of four people in the care of Hawke's Bay District Health Board have been revealed.
They include the death of a newborn baby, a patient discharged from hospital in pain and a mental health patient who committed suicide. Hawke's Bay's list of serious and sentinel events for 2008/09 also included the self-harm by someone on leave from the inpatient service and a delay in follow-up after a radiological examination which led to a patient's cancer going undiagnosed.
http://www.hawkesbaytoday.co.nz/local/news/health-board-sees-patient-tragedies-fall/3907082  

Health board releases details of preventable incidents
Laurel Stowell | 1st December 2009
Six Wanganui Hospital patient deaths this year - and one set of major injuries - could possibly have been prevented with different treatment.
New Zealand's 21 district health boards yesterday released lists of patients who suffered death or serious disability as a result of mistakes or omissions in their treatment by public hospitals.
http://www.wanganuichronicle.co.nz/local/news/health-board-releases-details-of-preventable-incid/3907061  

DHB: what went wrong
By MARYANNE TWENTYMAN - Waikato Times
Last updated 12:00 01/12/2009
Missed diagnoses resulting in death, removal of an incorrect organ and a needle left inside a patient during surgery are amongst 60 reported mishaps in the last year at Waikato hospitals.
A report released yesterday by the Health Ministry showed that Waikato District Health Board recorded the highest number of serious and sentinel events for the year to June 2009, a situation the DHB puts down to a robust and transparent reporting system.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/3113291/DHB-what-went-wrong 

 

Elderly care staff announce strike action
MON, 30 NOV 2009 5:34P.M.
Care workers at Presbyterian Support Central (PSC) have given notice of strike action, claiming the not-for-profit organisation is holding back funding increases.
The Service and Food Workers Union (SFWU) and New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) say staff at 15 elderly care and hospital facilities are being undervalued and will walk off the job between December 6 and 11.
"Our members play an important role in our communities, caring for our elderly and they deserve to be paid a fair wage for that. Unfortunately many of them earn as little as $12.97 and hour," NZNO industrial adviser Rob Haultain said.
http://www.3news.co.nz/Elderly-care-staff-announce-strike-action/tabid/421/articleID/131977/cat/52/Default.aspx  

Radius Rest Homes Celebrate Health Care Assistant Day
By Radius Residential Care Ltd
Hundreds of Radius Residential Care Health Care Assistants were recognized and celebrated on Friday with a special day commemorating their invaluable role and dedication to helping care for New Zealand’s quickly amassing elderly and disabled population.
http://www.infonews.co.nz/news.cfm?l=1&t=72&id=45329  

Hospital staff promise to cut delays
By MARYANNE TWENTYMAN - Waikato Times
Last updated 05:00 28/11/2009
Tired and burned out Waikato Hospital Emergency department staff say they can improve patient waiting times despite a rising tide of cases.
Statistics reported this week by the Health Ministry show Waikato Hospital was one of the worst offenders when it came to processing patients within a six-hour timeframe. It achieved the goal in just 65 per cent of cases. The target is 95 per cent.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/3105172/Hostipal-staff-promise-to-cut-delays  

Te Aroha hospital battles closure
By MARYANNE TWENTYMAN - Waikato Times
Last updated 05:00 28/11/2009
Te Aroha & District Community Hospital faces radical change after a controversial report showed it was heading toward closure within three years.
More than 200 residents turned out for the Te Aroha & District Health Services Charitable Trust annual meeting on Thursday and were told their hospital was losing nearly $800 a day.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/3105173/Te-Aroha-hospital-battles-closure  
 

Axe hovers over Princess Margaret Hospital
By PHIL HAMILTON - The Press
Last updated 05:00 23/11/2009
The axe is hanging over Princess Margaret Hospital in Christchurch, with proposals to shift the bulk of its services to Burwood.
Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) chief executive David Meates said the Cashmere hospital's future was under discussion.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch/3086779/Axe-hovers-over-Princess-Margaret-Hospital  

Ratings point to DHBs' deficiencies
By Martin Johnston
4:00 AM Monday Nov 23, 2009
Hospital emergency departments in much of Auckland are performing below par on newly issued national rankings of district health boards.
All seven district health boards from Taupo north scored well on access to cancer radiation therapy, but not on how long patients stay in emergency departments - a reflection of whole hospitals being overcrowded.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10611007&pnum=0  

Hospital shows up poorly in tables
By GREER McDONALD - The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 23/11/2009
Wait times at Wellington Hospital's emergency department have left the district health board languishing as the country's third-worst performer.
Targets set by Health Minister Tony Ryall in July in an attempt to improve health boards' accountability are published today. They compare New Zealand's 21 health boards across six categories.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/local/3086695/Hospital-shows-up-poorly-in-tables  

Mixed report card for DHB
By RYAN EVANS - Taranaki Daily News
Last updated 05:00 23/11/2009
Taranaki's health services received a mixed report card when the Ministry of Health released its first quarterly performance report yesterday.
The Taranaki District Health Board was the top performer of all DHBs nationwide for diabetes and cardio-vascular services, but was the third worst when it came to helping smokers quit.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/3086818/Mixed-report-card-for-DHB  

Robot to work at rest home
By TOM PULLAR-STRECKER - The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 23/11/2009
Meet "Charlie" the Korean robot, which will start work at Selwyn Retirement Village in Auckland today, monitoring residents' vital signs and giving them reminders.
The work placement has been arranged by Auckland University's Robotics Centre, established last year in partnership with Korea's Electronics and Telecommunications Research Unit, and founded with the help of a $1.8 million Government grant.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/technology/3086298/Robot-to-work-at-rest-home  

CDHB on target in assessment
The Press
Last updated 05:00 23/11/2009
The Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) has received a pass mark in the first performance-target figures released by the Ministry of Health.
The Canterbury board was among the better performers in the major regions in most of the six categories assessed under an initiative from Health Minister Tony Ryall.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/3086781/CDHB-on-target-in-assessment  

Doctors warn of risks in more health squeezing
By RUTH HILL - The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 21/11/2009
Senior doctors warn that signalled funding cuts to the health boards will compromise patient safety and care, and access to public hospitals.
However, the Government denies reports of looming health cuts – though it says some programmes will be "stopped, scaled or slowed" with savings shifted to front-line services.
The executive director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, Ian Powell, who represents senior doctors, said a proposal by Auckland District Health Board to shave 5 to 10 per cent off its contracts was a sign public hospitals were under pressure. While the health budget had doubled in size in a decade to $12 billion, most new money had been channelled into cheaper GP visits and building upgrades. Direct funding to hospitals had increased by only about 3 per cent a year – about half the rate of inflation.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/national/3084078/Doctors-warn-of-risks-in-more-health-squeezing  

Paula Rebstock appointed to new health board
Niko Kloeten | Friday November 20 2009 - 02:20pm
Former Commerce Commission chairwoman Paula Rebstock has popped up on the board of a new organisation designed to cut waste and duplication in health spending.
Health Minister Tony Ryall today announced the make-up of the new Shared Services Establishment Board, which forms part of Mr Ryall’s plan to lower health sector administrative costs by up to $700 million with the loss of about 500 jobs.
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/paula-rebstock-appointed-new-health-board-115239  
 

DHB appointments a step towards collaboration
NZPA | Wednesday November 18 2009 - 07:52am
The Government has announced the first District Health Board (DHB) appointments since unveiling its plan for a revamped health sector.
Health Minister Tony Ryall last month announced the launch of a National Health Board, which he said would oversee the 21 DHBs and reduce duplication.
He also said the DHBs would be expected to cooperate more, especially with other DHBs in their region.
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/dhb-appointments-a-step-towards-collaboration-115057

Second Palmerston North rest home faces scrutiny
By JANINE RANKIN - Manawatu Standard
Last updated 12:00 18/11/2009
A relative of the elderly woman photographed tied to a rest home bed has backed the facility, while a second Palmerston North home owned by the same people is under health board investigation.
The photo of the 103-year-old woman from the closed down Rose A Lea rest home was sent to the Ministry of Health last week by whistleblower Julie Ireland after her daughter Sharell Couchman, who worked there, took the shot.
The woman has since died and Radio New Zealand reported her to be Myra Letts, who died on November 9.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/3073949/Second-Palmerston-North-rest-home-faces-scrutiny

Board defends rest-home closure
By SIMON WOOD and KATE NEWTON - The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 19/11/2009
Midcentral District Health Board is defending its decision to close a rest home at the centre of abuse allegations against an elderly patient, despite criticism from the woman's family.
Relatives of 103-year-old Myra Letts have criticised the whistleblower who took pictures of her tied to a bed with a sheet and gave them to authorities, and say the health board over-reacted.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/national/3076572/Board-defends-rest-home-closure  

Audit rules changed after rest home shut
8:01 PM Wednesday Nov 18, 2009
The Ministry of Health has changed rest home inspection procedures, following criticism in the wake of the closing of a Palmerston North home yesterday.
After receiving photographs of a 103-year-old resident tied to a bed and complaints about conditions at the Rose A Lea rest home, MidCentral District Health Board (DHB) ordered a spot inspection.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10610159  
  

NZNO industrial adviser Rob Haultain was on Breakfast TV on Wednesday 18th November commenting on the situation at Rose A Lea resthome.
http://tvnz.co.nz/breakfast-news/breakfast-wednesday-november-18-3153459/video?vid=3154531  

'I wouldn't let my dog live in that place'
By GREER MCDONALD and SIMON WOOD - The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 18/11/2009
A rest home that was closed down after a 103-year-old woman was tied to her bed with a sheet was so squalid that it would have taken days to clean, an investigating official says.
MidCentral District Health Board began a three-day audit of Rose A Lea Rest Home in Palmerston North on Friday after complaints about the restraint and care of the woman.
There are also allegations that the woman had bed sores on her knees and buttocks, and unchanged bandages were left covered in faeces. She died on Monday from problems believed to be unrelated to her treatment.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/national/3072785/I-wouldn-t-let-my-dog-live-in-that-place  

Nurses want funding review to include aged-care
Published: 7:46PM Tuesday November 17, 2009
Source: NZPA
Nurses welcomed news the government may investigate high level of cash reserves held by primary health organisations (PHOs) and want funding for residential aged-care to receive similar attention.
It was reported on Monday that about $115 million of public money was being held by PHOs in either cash or investments.
http://tvnz.co.nz/health-news/nurses-want-funding-review-include-aged-care-3152595  

Cleverley to head SCDHB
By EMMA BAILEY - The Timaru Herald
Last updated 05:00 18/11/2009
Health Minister Tony Ryall has appointed Murray Cleverley as the new chairman for the South Canterbury District Health Board.
The elected member has been on the board for only two years but was looking forward to the new role as the board moved into "challenging times".
"We have a big job in front of us. We were one of the few boards in the country to have a surplus and that is a good foundation to move forward into the tough times we face ahead financially, while we try to keep up access to health services."
http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/3073009/Cleverley-to-head-SCDHB  

Hospital workers to strike
Home » News » Dunedin
By Edith Schofield on Wed, 18 Nov 2009
The Regions: Otago | News: Dunedin
Clerical and administration staff working in South Island district health boards will start strike action on Friday in a bid to gain pay increases, more holidays and the lifting of a 3-year pay freeze.
Public Service Association Otago organiser Julie Morton said the staff would strike for one hour on Friday, from 3.30pm, when a rally would be held outside Dunedin Hospital's main entrance.
http://www.odt.co.nz/the-regions/otago/82428/hospital-workers-strike  

Health providers faulted after woman's death
Home » News » National
Tue, 17 Nov 2009
News: National
A diabetic woman died after health providers missed valuable opportunities to treat her, an investigation has found.
Maureen Pineki, 68, died in Auckland City Hospital's intensive care unit on September 12 from a a critically low level of glucose in her blood -- hypoglycaemia, according to an Auckland District Health Board report obtained by the New Zealand Herald.
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/82300/health-providers-faulted-after-woman039s-death  

Ryall names new faces on capital DHB
By RUTH HILL - The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 18/11/2009
The Government will now have two pairs of eyes on Capital and Coast District Health Board, with the appointment of a second Crown monitor.
Health Minister Tony Ryall yesterday announced a batch of dual appointments between health boards to "break down silo thinking".
The joint appointments are seen by some as a step toward board mergers amid widespread criticism that 21 district health boards are too many.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/local/3072594/Ryall-names-new-faces-on-capital-DHB  
 

Govt probes $115m in PHOs' coffers
By TRACY WATKINS and RUTH HILL - The Press
Last updated 05:00 16/11/2009
Locally run GP health clinics have built up a $115 million treasure chest from money siphoned off district health boards and earmarked for programmes to lift the nation's health.
Figures obtained under the Official Information Act show that in the seven years since primary health organisations (PHOs) were launched, more than $55m in cash and $60m on investments has been squirrelled away by supposedly not-for-profit agencies. On current rates, the money would earn PHOs several million dollars a year in interest.
Health Minister Tony Ryall has asked officials to investigate and PHOs could be stripped of more than $30m in "management fees", which are paid by the Government each year, supposedly to cover costs.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/3064844/Govt-probes-115m-in-PHOs-coffers  

Turia Addresses Palliative Care Nurses Conference
Friday, 13 November, 2009 - 11:46
Tariana Turia
I was delighted to accept the invitation of Helen Cleaver, Chairperson Palliative Care Nurses New Zealand, to take part in this very special conference.
Your role, in walking alongside families as they support their loved one to leave this world, brings with it responsibilities and obligations which touch at the very essence of our humanity.
You are charged with the awesome task of caring and supporting families in the process of dying; and during bereavement itself.
http://www.voxy.co.nz/politics/turia-addresses-palliative-care-nurses-conference/5/30128  

Nurses in England Will Now Require Degree - Department of Health
Submitted by Ketan Mukherjee on Fri, 11/13/2009 - 07:54
The Department of Health announced on Tuesday, that under a new regulation which aims at improving the quality of patient care in hospitals across UK, all new nurses now have to obtain a degree within 4 years, making nursing a degree only profession, as opposed to its earlier status of a diploma profession.
http://www.topnews.net.nz/content/2916-nurses-england-will-now-require-degree-department-health  

Proposals on local health a step closer
A GISBORNE primary health organisation’s proposal for a redesign of their local health system is a step closer to getting the green light.
Minister of Health Tony Ryall announced last week that Turanganui Primary Health Organisation, along with 11 other providers from the midland region, had been given the chance to create a system that delivers better care, sooner, and in a more convenient way.
The model focuses on seven key areas — children and young people, health screening, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, mental health, older people and people disengaged from health.
http://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/article/?id=14672  
 

Hospital achievement praised
By NICOLA WILLIAMS - Eastern Courier
Last updated 05:00 11/11/2009
Middlemore Hospital’s emergency department has achieved an ambitious goal of reducing waiting times to no more than six hours.
Counties Manukau District Health Board chief executive officer Geraint Martin says the board set a "tough challenge" to reach the target that they had been working towards since last year.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/eastern-courier/3047745/Hospital-achievement-praised

New health funding formula to stay
By RYAN EVANS - Taranaki Daily News
Last updated 05:00 10/11/2009
The Government won't be changing a formula which sees Taranaki's share of health budget increases getting smaller, Health Minister Tony Ryall says.
The funding formula divvying up the national health spend now puts more emphasis on the proportion of Maori and Pacific Islanders in a population.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/3046916/New-health-funding-formula-to-stay

Minister in charge of the health of the nation
Home » News » Political
By Elspeth McLean on Tue, 10 Nov 2009
When Tony Ryall celebrates his birthday on Thursday, he will also be marking the end of his first year as Minister of Health. While onlookers might view securing that cabinet post as a hospital pass, Mr Ryall describes it as " the best birthday present I've ever had". Health reporter Elspeth McLean asked Mr Ryall about "the best job in government".
Health Minister Tony Ryall says an ongoing highlight of his job is getting outside Wellington to visit hospitals and health services and talking to people who are really "making a difference".
He peppers his conversation with examples he has seen of services making improvements to the way they are working for the benefit of patients.
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/politics/81361/minister-charge-health-nation

Turia shocked over Maori health report
By PENNY WARDLE - The Marlborough Express
Last updated 12:00 09/11/2009
Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia says she is shocked at a report that claims Maori people in Nelson and Marlborough are being let down by the quality of care they receive from family GPs.
Massey University's Research Centre for Maori Health & Development recently released the report examining the lifestyles of 187 Maori adults and 135 children in Nelson and Marlborough households.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/marlborough-express/news/3044798/Turia-shocked-over-Maori-health-report  

Editorial: Frontline staff cuts will hurt health later
By LEE MATHEWS - Chief Reporter - Manawatu Standard
Last updated 12:00 09/11/2009
OPINION: Step right up folks, step right up, and watch the circus that's called Cut Health Until it Haemorrhages.
Health Minister Tony Ryall – he who was elected on a plaster-cast political promise of no front-line health cuts – has decreed our MidCentral Health board has got to meet its budget. The health spend's gone up, but so have expenses, so the board has to chop $7 million from its costs to match its $252m income this year.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/opinion/3044252/Editorial-Frontline-staff-cuts-will-hurt-health-later  
 

'Frontline' health jobs for the chop
By JANINE RANKIN - Manawatu Standard
Last updated 12:30 07/11/2009
Cost cuts at Palmerston North Hospital are starting to draw blood as nurses and care assistants learned this week how many jobs will go to save $700,000.
A total of 6.2 full-time jobs for care assistants will be dropped, along with 6.3 nursing jobs – a total of 12.5 across the hospital's main surgical, medical and child health wards, neonates, coronary care, intensive care and the high dependency unit.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/3041471/Frontline-health-jobs-for-the-chop  

Audits reveal retirement homes' true colours
By REBECCA TODD - The Press
Last updated 05:00 07/11/2009
Eighteen Canterbury rest homes have had their performance assessments made public, including one that has problems in two key standards.
The Brookhaven Retirement Village in Bromley has been identified as having two areas with major shortfalls, with "significant action needed to achieve the required levels of performance".
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch/3040537/Audits-reveal-retirement-homes-true-colours  

Gareth Morgan calls for fair health rationing
Press Release: Dr Gareth Morgan
7 November 2009
Gareth Morgan calls for fair health rationing
New Zealand's health system is a political football, held together only by the high quality of our nurses and doctors, according to a new book from Dr Gareth Morgan being launched tomorrow.
Health Cheque is the result of six months spent researching New Zealand’s health system and is based on over 40 interviews with doctors, nurses and health providers as well as a comprehensive literature review . The study finds that our health system punches above its weight given the budget it’s given, but substantial deficiencies persist.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0911/S00071.htm  

Douglas forced to quit DHB
By KATHERINE NEWTON - The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 09/11/2009
Ken Douglas – the former unionist known as "Red Ken" – has been forced to resign from Capital and Coast District Health Board by Health Minister Tony Ryall.
Mr Douglas, who was appointed deputy chairman of the board in 2007, told The Dominion Post yesterday that he had not wanted to tender his resignation. "The minister asked for it."
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/politics/3043129/Douglas-forced-to-quit-DHB  

Hospital restrains man for six years
4:00AM Thursday Nov 05, 2009
By Patrick Gower
A mentally ill patient held in restraints and kept in solitary confinement for almost six years is one of several disturbing cases of possibly inhumane treatment the country's Ombudsmen have uncovered in New Zealand detention facilities.
The public watchdogs found the patient in virtually constant "seclusion" - solitary confinement in a bare room - at the mental health unit of a district health board.
Chief Ombudsman Beverley Wakem would not name the board last night, but said it claimed the detention and use of restraints was required because the patient was likely to attack other patients and staff.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10607319  

Hospital trials new system
By SARAH CODDINGTON - North Shore Times
Last updated 05:00 05/11/2009
North Shore Hospital is trialling a new management system to let staff design how their ward works.
The programme called Releasing Time to Care – the Productive Ward follows management protocols made famous by motor company Toyota and is used by the public health system in the United Kingdom.
A general medical ward in North Shore Hospital was the first in the country to try the programme in 2008 and it has now posted its official results.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/north-shore-times/3029574/Hospital-trials-new-system  

Martin Johnston: Minister who can do no wrong
4:00AM Thursday Nov 05, 2009
By Martin Johnston
Tony Ryall hardly had time for a test spin in his Beehive chair before the accolades started rolling in.
As the new Minister of Health and Minister of State Services, who would have a role in restricting pay rises, he might have expected a cool reception from health unions.
But for three years as an Opposition health spokesman - National's most effective since it lost office in 1999 - he had carefully crafted strong relationships in the sector. He travelled and he listened.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10607338  
 

Probe into disgraced councillor's role in resthome
4:00AM Sunday Nov 01, 2009
By Heather McCracken
Health chiefs have called an urgent meeting with managers of an Auckland resthome to clarify who is running the facility, which receives more than $3 million in public money a year.
The Manukau District Health Board will ask questions over the role of James Papali'i, a disgraced former councillor convicted of misusing public money, and the Mangere Community Hub, a trust linked to Papali'i and now in liquidation, owing $1 million in unpaid tax.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10606617
 

Staff oppose shift work
By Edith Schofield on Sat, 31 Oct 2009
News: Dunedin | Health | ODHB
It was no surprise Dunedin Hospital operating theatre staff did not want to work evenings or weekends, but "no other high-tech endeavour" would run equipment for such limited hours, an Otago District Health Board member says.
Hospital advisory committee chairman Richard Thomson said given the direction health was heading, it would become "increasingly difficult to justify to the public that we have expensive equipment that we choose not to use, except in emergencies, more than 45 hours a week".
The board has been looking at ways to improve efficiencies in its operating theatres to meet a Government target of improving access to elective surgery.
Emergency medicine and surgery group manager Dr Colleen Coop told the committee at this week's meeting that staff had "quite strongly" said they did not want to work on evenings or weekend lists.
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/80174/staff-oppose-shift-work  

Dunedin to get free health clinic
By Bruce Munro
Created 30/10/2009 - 12:38
Dr John Arnold, a founding member of Servants Health Centre, a facility which will offer free primary medical care in central Dunedin and link people with other health providers and social agencies. Photo by Bruce Munro
The prospect of a free health centre being open in central Dunedin by Christmas is being lauded by social agencies.
Healthcare professionals including doctors, nurses and counsellors are volunteering their time to provide free primary health care and related services, Dr John Arnold, a Dunedin GP who hopes to open Servants Health Centre in Princes St before the end of the year, says.
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/80147/dunedin-get-free-health-clinic  

Health board merger consultation likely to begin next week
Home » News » Dunedin
By Elspeth McLean on Tue, 27 Oct 2009
Your Town: Dunedin | News: Dunedin | Health | ODHB
Public consultation on the possibility of merging the Otago and Southland district health boards is expected to begin next Monday.
Otago board chairman Errol Millar said people would have six weeks to put forward their views.
The process will include about 10 public meetings in the two provinces and the opportunity for people to make online submissions.
http://www.odt.co.nz/your-town/dunedin/79640/health-board-merger-consultation-likely-begin-next-week  
 

NZNO Organiser John Miller was on Morning Report this morning (16.10.09) about situation at the Oceania site Windermere. To listen click on the link below.
Resthome staff say care concerns being ignored
The company at the centre of allegations says it supports a Canterbury District Health Board investigation into alleged mismanagement at one of its Christchurch resthomes. (duration: 3′40″)
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/national/mnr/2009/10/16/resthome_staff_say_care_concerns_being_ignored
  

Concerns over second Oceania Care home
Thu, 15 Oct 2009
News: National
Staff at a second Christchurch rest home run by Oceania Care say they have serious concerns about patient care.
The staff at Windermere rest home have voiced their fears just weeks after Oceania was reprimanded by the Health and Disability Commissioner for care failures at its Villa Gardens Home and Hospital in Addington.
The new concerns have prompted Canterbury District Health Board to audit Windemere rest home.
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/78276/concerns-over-second-oceania-care-home  

Crescent quits Abano with tidy $4m profit
4:00AM Thursday Oct 15, 2009
By Tamsyn Parker
Australian private equity company Crescent Capital has sold its cornerstone stake in Abano Healthcare for a healthy profit.
Abano yesterday said Crescent had sold 4,534,998 shares - its entire 19.5 per cent stake.
Abano last week received shareholder approval for the sale of its NZ audiology division to National Hearing Care, a company associated with Crescent, for $157.8 million.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10603243
  

Unions alarmed as manager quits
By JANIE RANKIN - Manawatu Standard
Last updated 12:00 15/10/2009
Unions representing MidCentral Health staff are concerned about the abrupt departure of senior manager Lareen Cooper as a restructuring and review of hospital services gathers momentum.
Appointed four years ago, she leaves the role tomorrow after working out one month's notice.
District health board chief executive Murray Georgel is stepping in to replace her to lead the reviews.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/2965942/Unions-alarmed-as-manager-quits  

Fears over axing nurse roles
By JANINE RANKIN - Manawatu Standard
Last updated 12:00 14/10/2009
Patient safety will be at risk if MidCentral Health goes ahead with axing nursing manager positions, College of Nurses co-chairwoman Judy Yarwood says.
The restructuring creates two part-time assistant director of nursing roles, but replaces nurse managers with service managers.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/2962221/Fears-over-axing-nurse-roles 
 

DHB voted NZ’s best
Jamie Morton | 13th October 2009
Another Ministry of Health report card rating Wairarapa District Health Board as the country's best shows a strong start for its new leader, board chairman Bob Francis says.
Mr Francis said chief executive Tracey Adamson had to take credit for much of the DHB's country-topping performance in the Ministry's latest quarterly report, which measures the delivery of both community and hospital health services.
http://www.times-age.co.nz/local/news/dhb-voted-nzs-best/3905269
 
 

Poor care alleged at rest home
Iain Hyndman | 10th October 2009
A Wanganui woman is going through an emotional time as she awaits the outcome of investigations into allegations of poor care of her ill cousin at a local rest home.
Annasophia Calman has laid a complaint with the Health and Disability Commissioner over a series of incidents involving her cousin Marina Lowrie at the Wattle Downs Rest Home.
http://www.wanganuichronicle.co.nz/local/news/poor-care-alleged-at-rest-home/3905146  

 

Company denies understaffing
By REBECCA TODD - The Press
Last updated 05:00 10/10/2009
Another Christchurch rest home is being watched after claims of "disgraceful" staffing levels in its hospital wing.
The Canterbury District Health Board yesterday confirmed it was working closely with the Windermere home in Papanui.
Concerns were raised with The Press by a staff member about staffing levels at the home. She said residents were not being helped out of bed until mid-afternoon and not being showered or fed properly.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/2950492/Company-denies-understaffing

 

Health boards look set to merge
Home » News » Dunedin
By Edith Schofield on Sat, 10 Oct 2009
One health board could govern Otago and Southland from as early as next year, with consultation to begin next month about the creation of a southern district health board.
A merger of the Otago and Southland district health boards would immediately save a minimum of $500,000, with savings of at least $1 million expected longer term as duplication of board and committee meetings was cut, ODHB chairman Errol Millar said last night.
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/77512/health-boards-look-set-merge  

Nurses to fight change
Manawatu Standard
Last updated 12:00 09/10/2009
Nurse managers' jobs will be stripped from MidCentral Health's structure in a decision which is angering nurses and raises questions about patient safety.
Their positions will be replaced by six service managers and two half-time assistant directors of nursing.
The decision stems from a review of MidCentral Health's structure and services, prompted by the need to find $10 million in savings.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/2947513/Nurses-to-fight-change  
 

Grey Power welcomes spot audits
By FLEUR COGLE - The Timaru Herald
Last updated 05:00 05/10/2009
Grey Power national president Les Howard has welcomed government moves to start spot audits of aged residential care facilities.
On Thursday Health Minister Tony Ryall announced the start of a pilot programme aimed at addressing public concerns about the quality of rest homes.
"There has been mounting public concern around issues of poor care in rest homes and residential facilities," Mr Ryall said.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/2930386/Grey-Power-welcomes-spot-audits

Spot checks put carers on notice
By JANINE RANKIN - The Manawatu Standard
Last updated 12:00 03/10/2009
A couple of rest homes in the MidCentral Health district can expect surprise visits from auditors in the coming weeks as the Health Ministry pilots a new spot audit process.
The district health board is one of five throughout New Zealand where a total of 16 aged care facilities will receive unannounced audits checking up on the quality of their care of elderly residents.
The move away from scheduled routine audits has been welcomed by the New Zealand Nurses' Organisation, but with some scepticism.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/2928261/Spot-checks-put-carers-on-notice  
 

Health board to mull merger of regions' PHOs
By AMY MILNE - Southland
Last updated 05:00 02/10/2009
The fate of Southland and Otago's nine primary health organisations will be known when Southland District Health Board meets this month.
Southland and Otago District Health Boards' chief executive Brian Rousseau is still pushing for one primary health organisation (PHO) for the two regions, despite months of discussions on the issue reaching no firm decisions.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/2923652/Health-board-to-mull-merger-of-regions-PHOs  
 

Rest home audits a sham
02/10/2009 5:12:03
Nurses say giving notice of spot checks at rest homes will give managers a chance to clean up their act before inspectors arrive.
The Government is introducing a trial of spot audits of homes.
 http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/newsdetail1.asp?storyID=164000  

 

Editorial: Training better than protesting
By MICHAEL CUMMINGS, Editor - Manawatu Standard
Last updated 12:00 29/09/2009
OPINION: Manawatu rest home workers who have taken to the streets to protest for better pay need to come in from their cold, dark delusion and sit by the reality fire for a while.
About 60 healthcare assistants, nurses and support staff from Willard homes in Palmerston North and Coombrae home in Feilding attended a stopwork protest on Friday, lining Napier Rd with signs calling on motorists to toot their support. There was reportedly plenty of honking, but if the placards had room for the full story there would surely have been a disbelieving silence.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/opinion/2912017/Editorial-Training-better-than-protesting

DHBs back plan for National Health Board
NZPA | Tuesday September 29 2009 - 12:03pm
The District Health Boards of New Zealand (DHBNZ) support the establishment of a National Health Board (NHB) and wanted its role to be expanded from that recommended in the review of the health system.
The NHB was one of 170 recommendations in a report commissioned by the Government in January.
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/dhbs-back-plan-national-health-board-111998

Labour calls govt health plans 'super bureaucracy'
NZPA
Last updated 16:33 29/09/2009
The Labour Party is suspicious about the Government's plans for the public health service and says creating a new "super bureaucracy" in the form of a National Health Board (NHB) won't work.
Establishing an NHB is one of the main recommendations of a review report released in June, and most of the country's 21 district health boards support it.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/2914653/Labour-calls-govt-health-plans-super-bureaucracy  
 

Rest home workers protest
By JONATHON HOWE - Manawatu Standard
Last updated 12:00 26/09/2009
A chorus of car horns rang out in support of the Manawatu rest home workers who lined both sides of Napier Rd to protest at the pay conditions offered by their employer, Presbyterian Support Central (PSC).
About 60 healthcare assistants, nurses and support staff from PSC-owned Brightwater and Willard homes in Palmerston North and Coombrae home in Feilding attended the two-hour stopwork protest yesterday.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/2906390/Rest-home-workers-protest 

 
Count down to new mental health unit starts
By NATALIE AKOORIE - Waikato Times
Last updated 05:00 26/09/2009
Hamilton is in line for a new minimum secure forensic mental health unit, likely to be run out of either Waikato Hospital or an existing facility in Tamahere.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/2905298/Count-down-to-new-mental-health-unit-starts  

New PHO 'needs strong leadership'
By EMMA BAILEY - The Timaru Herald
Last updated 05:00 26/09/2009
The Minister of Health will not interfere with the setting up of a new primary health organisation in South Canterbury, but suggests it should be led by frontline health providers.
Tony Ryall visited Timaru yesterday and warned health spending would be reined in.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/2905567/New-PHO-needs-strong-leadership  

PSC workers to return to negotiations after stopwork
NZPA September 25, 2009, 5:58 pm
Workers at Presbyterian Support Central (PSC) homes in the lower North Island are set to return to the negotiating table after holding stopwork meetings today.
About 400 workers took part in stopwork meetings at 14 sites in the Lower North Island from 10am until 12pm, New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) industrial adviser Rob Haultain said.
The meetings were supported by all 650 NZNO members, which included nurses, healthcare assistants and domestic staff, Ms Haultain told NZPA.
http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/6101700/psc-workers-to-return-to-negotiations-after-stopwork  

DHB discriminated against bi-polar nurse - ERA
NZPA
Last updated 18:01 24/09/2009
The Southland District Health Board (SDHB) has been found guilty of discriminating against an emergency department nurse because she suffered bipolar disorder.
In a decision released this month, Employment Relations Authority member Philip Cheyne said the board was unwilling to take reasonable steps available to accommodate the nurse's disability.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/2899811/DHB-discriminated-against-bi-polar-nurse-ERA  

Accelerator or brake? Health is not a toy Mr Ryall
Thursday, 24 September 2009, 3:16 pm
Press Release: New Zealand Labour Party
24 September 2009
Media Statement
Accelerator or brake? Health is not a toy Mr Ryall
Minister of Health Tony Ryall’s latest attempt to dazzle the public with additional cardiac surgery figures in Auckland is unsustainable given the strange accelerator and brake signals he sends to health sector staff, Labour Health spokesperson Ruth Dyson says.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE0909/S00120.htm  

Presbyterian Support workers plan stopwork meetings
NZPA September 24, 2009, 7:43 pm
Presbyterian Support workers are planning stopwork meetings across the lower North Island tomorrow.
The healthcare assistants, support staff and nurses, members of the Service and Food Workers Union Nga Ringa Tota (SFWU) and New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO), are employed at 16 Presbyterian Support Central sites.
http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/6098341/presbyterian-support-workers-plan-stopwork-meetings  

Wellington Hospital nursing claim denial
The Dominion Post
Last updated 08:20 23/09/2009
Claims that patients are at risk from nursing shortages at Wellington Hospital have been rebuffed by health board bosses.
Senior nurses, who would not be identified, told One News last night that it was dangerous to have too high a proportion of junior staff.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/local/2892401/Wellington-Hospital-nursing-claim-denial  

Find and watch Glenda Alexander on the TV1 breakfast programme:
http://tvnz.co.nz/breakfast-news/breakfast-wednesday-september-23-3008037  

23/09/09
TV1 News Story on Short Staffing at Wellington Hospital
http://tvnz.co.nz/health-news/nurses-claim-patients-lives-risk-3007110

Gender pay disparities highlighted
Mon, 21 Sep 2009
Celebrating women's suffrage day and highlighting continuing pay disparity between women and men
http://www.odt.co.nz/your-town/dunedin/74739/gender-pay-disparities-highlighted  
 

Friday 18 September
TV3 coverage of today’s event at parliament to launch the pay equity coalition and mark suffrage day (tomorrow).
http://www.3news.co.nz/Pay-equity-campaigners-mark-suffrage-day-outside-Parliament/tabid/370/articleID/121688/cat/772/Default.aspx  

Nursing Council Election Results Announced
Thursday, 17 September, 2009 - 15:58
A charge nurse from Starship Children's Hospital in Auckland and a senior nurse from Christchurch have been elected to the Nursing Council of New Zealand in the first ever elections for nurse members of the Council.
Nursing Council Chief Executive Carolyn Reed announced today that Roxanne McKerras from Christchurch and Catherine Byrne from Auckland were the two highest polling candidates in the recent postal election and will now join the Council for a two-year term.
Mrs Reed says the election process offered a new opportunity for nurses to be directly involved with the work of Council.
http://www.voxy.co.nz/national/nursing-council-election-results-announced/5/24458  

Tony Ryall
16 SEPTEMBER, 2009
Health Minister's speech to NZNO Centennial Conference
Thank you for inviting me to your conference to celebrate NZNO's centennial. Thanks Marion for the introduction- this must be one of your final duties as NZNO's president.
I understand there are quite a few past presidents, national secretaries and chief executives of the NZNO here today for this auspicious occasion.
http://www.beehive.govt.nz/speech/health+minister039s+speech+nzno+centennial+conference  

15 SEPTEMBER 2009
Horn report: avoiding parliamentary scrutiny
Media release from Association of Medical Specialists
Bureaucracy creation by stealth: National Health Board
Previously we outlined our concerns about the proposal in the Horn Report for the creation of a new health bureaucracy, the National Health Board (NHB).
This new bureaucracy would be a crown entity rather than government department or ministry thereby being more arms length from normal government accountability.
Part of the justification is that the Horn Report wants its recommended bureaucracy not to be subjected to “lobbying” from “outside” organisations which, by implication, includes the ASMS, the medical colleges, and the NZ Nurses Organisation. This does not rest comfortably with the Government’s policy on clinical leadership and engagement.
http://www.nzdoctor.co.nz/news?article=117afc69-b645-44fe-950e-94af233c8bbf  

12 SEPTEMBER 2009
24 Hours in ED
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/2858026/24-hours-in-Wellington-Hospitals-emergency-department  

Kiwis should fill caregiver roles
By REBECCA TODD - The Press
Last updated 05:00 04/09/2009
A suggestion to import foreign caregivers to plug a massive worker shortfall has been dismissed by the New Zealand Nurses Organisation.
Government estimates show that the required number of caregivers for New Zealand's ageing population will rise from 17,900 in 2006 to 48,000 in 2036. If the status quo is maintained, only 21,400 will be available in 2036, leaving a shortfall of nearly 27,000.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/2833217/Kiwis-should-fill-caregiver-roles  

Safety 'interventions' introduced for caregivers
By REBECCA TODD - The Press
Last updated 05:00 03/09/2009
The Government has started "targeted intervention" in South Island rest homes to ensure safe workplaces for caregivers.
In the 2006-07 financial year there were 945 "reactive interventions" by the Department of Labour in residential aged-care facilities nationally, including injuries to staff and residents.
The department's Canterbury-West Coast service manager, Margaret Radford, said a strategy to combat the problem had been introduced.
About 20 rest homes from Christchurch to Invercargill are being surveyed to check their compliance with health and safety and employment laws.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/2828808/Saftey-interventions-introduced-for-caregivers  

Integration plan sparks backlash
By RUTH HILL - The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 02/09/2009
Plans to scrap targeted mental health services for Maori and Pacific people by Hutt Valley District Health Board have provoked a backlash among staff.
Under the final plan to be unveiled to staff this week Maori, Pacific and alcohol and drug services and staff will be "integrated" into mainstream services.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/2824193/Integration-plan-sparks-backlash  

Two dead and six hurt in Hutt Hospital errors
By RUTH HILL - The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 03/09/2009
Two patients died and six others were injured by medical errors and mishaps at Hutt Hospital, according to the board's latest serious and sentinel event report.
The two fatal cases occurred in March and May last year, but were not included in the 2008 report.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/local/2828450/Two-dead-and-six-hurt-in-Hutt-Hospital-errors

Mental health cuts planned
The Marlborough Express
Last updated 12:45 02/09/2009
Close to $2 million will be cut from mental health funding in Nelson Marlborough as the health board attempts to tighten its spending.
The Nelson Marlborough District Health Board's 2009 district annual plan says this financial year will be a transitional period for mental health, where it will review all mental health service contracts to determine where to make savings of $1.8m 5 per cent of last year's mental health spend of $35.27m.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/marlborough-express/news/2826949/Mental-health-cuts-planned  

Nelson Hospital plans upgrade
The Nelson Mail
Last updated 13:54 02/09/2009
Nelson's health board is pushing ahead with plans for another multimillion-dollar redevelopment of the city's public hospital in the next five years.
Still in the concept stage, the board estimates the Nelson Hospital redevelopment will cost between $33 million and $42m.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/2826982/Nelson-Hospital-plans-upgrade  

Hospice going all electronic
Taranaki Daily News
Last updated 05:00 03/09/2009
Hospice Taranaki is about to introduce a new electronic patient record system which will significantly reduce current administration processes ultimately allowing more time with patients.
The new system, called PalCare, has been funded through support from The Lion Foundation with a recent $75,000 grant making the upgrade possible.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/2828986/Hospice-going-all-electronic  

Health shake-up coming
By LYN HUMPHREYS - Taranaki Daily News
Last updated 05:00 27/08/2009
Taranaki's public health services are due for a shake-up in an attempt to rein in cost overruns and meet demanding Government targets.
Because of the extreme pressures, the Taranaki District Health Board is this year at a crossroads and will be forced to reshape services, chief executive Tony Foulkes warns.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/2805400/Health-shake-up-coming

Big cuts ahead at Waikato District Health Board
By NATALIE AKOORIE - Waikato Times
Last updated 12:16 26/08/2009
Projects will be axed, 50 fleet cars taken off the road and overtime monitored as Waikato District Health Board makes cuts to get its finances back on track. Chief executive Craig Climo described the "11th hour" move as recognition a surplus it needed to put toward a 15-year $560 million redevelopment programme across the DHB might not be achieved.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/2802148/Big-cuts-ahead-at-Waikato-District-Health-Board 

Addicted to healthcare - could alarming cost bankrupt us?
By GRAHAME ARMSTRONG - Sunday Star Times
Last updated 08:00 23/08/2009
The cost of healthcare in New Zealand is increasing so rapidly it could bankrupt the government, according to a new report.
It says New Zealand is "addicted to healthcare" and warns that the government's $12 billion a year health budget, at the current rate of growth, will blow out to $45b by 2026.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/2779009/Addicted-to-healthcare-could-alarming-cost-bankrupt-us  

Government accused of ignoring pay rate proposal
Updated at 9:48am on 22 August 2009
The Nurses Organisation is accusing the Government of ignoring a unanimous recommendation from Parliament's health select committee.
The committee, dominated by National Party MPs, supports the formation of a working party to investigate why Maori healthcare workers' pay rates lag behind the mainstream health workforce.
Nurses Organisation chief executive Geoff Annals says it seems Health Minister Tony Ryall has refused to back this recommendation.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/stories/2009/08/22/1245c24ff858  

Attn Mr Ryall: Otaki PHO shows small is good
By JANINE RANKIN - The Manawatu Standard
Last updated 12:00 20/08/2009
New Zealand's smallest primary health organisation is hitting back at Health Minister Tony Ryall's attempts to undermine it because it's little.
The Otaki PHO, at the southern end of the MidCentral health district, says its success in delivering health services close to where its 6600 enrolled patients live is proof that small is good.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/2770528/Attn-Mr-Ryall-Otaki-PHO-shows-small-is-good  

Plan to gut Health Ministry
By VERNON SMALL - The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 14/08/2009
A national Health Board to oversee and fund district health boards could be established under a radical overhaul of the sector.
The proposal is a centrepiece of a report from a ministerial review that was completed last month.
Health Minister Tony Ryall has received the review and is due to report to Cabinet on it by the end of the month, his spokesman said.
However, it is understood some ministers, including Transport Minister Steven Joyce, are worried that the cost of such a radical restructuring would delay improved efficiencies, giving the Government few "wins" to claim before the next election.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/politics/2750650/Plan-to-gut-Health-Ministry  

Marathon discussions fail to agree on super PHO
Last updated 05:00 14/08/2009
A historic meeting yesterday between the Southland and Otago District Health Boards over the future of the regions' nine Primary Health Organisations failed to reach agreement on the establishment of a super primary health organisation in the south.
At the end of a marathon four-hour discussion in Invercargill , the recommendation put forward by the boards' chief executive, Brian Rousseau, was thrown out and asked to be revisited.
The new PHO proposed by Mr Rousseau would cover 300,000 patients in the two regions and take up to nine months to set up and result in job cuts across board and PHO staff.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/2750957/Marathon-discussions-fail-to-agree-on-super-PHO  

DHBs fear minister's intrusion
By KATHERINE NEWTON - The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 12/08/2009
District health board bosses have been told to run official information requests past the health minister, raising fears their independence will be undermined.
In a letter sent to all DHB chief executives at the end of June and obtained by The Dominion Post, Health Ministry staffer Oliver Poppelwell asked boards to supply Tony Ryall's office with copies of all requests under the Official Information Act, which allows the public and media to ask for information from any government body.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/2742020/DHBs-fear-ministers-intrusion

Editorial: Scrutiny proves an effective safeguard
By MICHAEL CUMMINGS, Editor - Manawatu Standard
Last updated 12:00 11/08/2009
Reading details in yesterday's Manawatu Standard of the problems at Woodlands rest homes in Palmerston North and Feilding, one's natural reaction is to be shocked that professional care of the elderly could be so poor.
While the revelations are troubling, we should at the same time take comfort from the fact that health officials are doing a commendable job in monitoring rest homes and detecting shortcomings in how some of them operate.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/opinion/2739291/Editorial-Scrutiny-proves-an-effective-safeguard

Super PHO recommended
By AMY MILNE - The Southland Times
Last updated 05:00 12/08/2009
The Otago and Southland District Health Boards chief executive is pushing for a super primary health organisation to replace the nine across the two regions.
In a report tabled for a special board meeting in Invercargill tomorrow, chief executive Brian Rousseau is recommending the boards approve the establishment of a new single PHO but reject a South Link Health proposal to establish one.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/2742300/Super-PHO-recommended    

Spending cuts affecting health services - Labour
NZPA | Thursday August 6 2009 - 07:54am
Pressure to rein in spending is forcing district health boards (DHBs) to make cuts to frontline patient services, says Labour's health spokeswoman Ruth Dyson.
Ms Dyson said today Health Minister Tony Ryall was signing off plans put forward by South Canterbury DHB which would reduce the number of accident and emergency patients it tended to by 5000 a year, instead seeing them sent to GPs.
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/spending-cuts-affecting-health-services-labour-107046

Rest home care limits annoy GP
By EMMA BAILEY - The Timaru Herald
Last updated 05:00 07/08/2009
A Temuka GP is concerned that elderly patients are being sent home despite needing rest home care, while the Government comes under fire for cutting health services.
Dr Bryan Moore has referred several older patients to the needs assessment and service co-ordination (NASC) team only to have them handed back. One was an elderly dementia patient deemed to need secure care who the NASC team had been unable to place in a rest home dementia wing.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/2728879/Rest-home-care-limits-annoy-GP 

DHB has deficit of $3.5m
Jamie Morton | 29th July 2009
Two "one-off" adjustments have worsened the Wairarapa District Health Board's end-of-year financial result - now a deficit of $3.5 million.
The DHB first projected a deficit of $2.1 million and then managed to deliver a $1.95 million result, but the costs of leave payments and procedures outside the region for Wairarapa people stacked on an extra $1.6 million.
http://www.times-age.co.nz/local/news/dhb-has-deficit-of-35m/3902042/  

Nurse moves draw huge staff reaction
By NATALIE AKOORIE - Waikato Times
Last updated 12:38 29/07/2009
A nursing and midwifery review at Waikato District Health Board has attracted a whopping 228 submissions from staff 60 per cent in support and the rest either against or asking questions.
The proposed new nurse management structure was presented to staff in May, less than two months after Waikato Hospital group manager Grant Howard upset nurses with comments there were too many of them for the DHB's budget, and that they needed to be better managed and rostered.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/2685263/Nurse-moves-draw-huge-staff-reaction  

Timaru Hospital to cut services
By EMMA BAILEY - The Timaru Herald
Last updated 05:00 30/07/2009
Core health services will be dramatically cut as Timaru Hospital tightens its belt.
In the coming year the emergency department will attempt to cut patient numbers by around 5000, and radiology services will be reduced by 10 per cent, which would potentially affect 2400 examinations.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/2702352/Timaru-Hospital-to-cut-services

MidCentral chops managers
By JANINE RANKIN - The Manawatu Standard
Last updated 12:00 29/07/2009
MidCentral Health's staff cuts have started at the top, with three directors replacing five group managers on the senior management team.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/2684791/MidCentral-chops-managers  

Adamson cuts DHB spending
By WALT DICKSON - Wairarapa News
Last updated 11:25 29/07/2009
Wairarapa District Health Board boss Tracey Adamson is not ruling out service cuts as steps are taken to rein in spending.
The DHB has recorded a deficit of $3.54 million for the year ending June 30 with a further $1m deficit forecast for the next 12 months.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/communities/2700061/Adamson-cuts-DHB-spending  

Coleman ignores mental health services
Tuesday, 28 July 2009, 4:28 pm
Press Release: New Zealand Labour Party
28 July 2009
Media Statement
Coleman ignores mental health services
Mental health services have fallen off the Government’s radar, Labour Health spokesperson Ruth Dyson said.
“Associate Minister of Health Jonathan Coleman today claimed the Government had scrapped a target aimed at improving mental health services because that’s what the sector wanted.
“That statement completely ignores the fact that the New Zealand Nurses Organisation and the National Maori PHO coalition both criticised the decision to dump the mental health target.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0907/S00331.htm  

Team work way forward for health
By SIMON EDWARDS - Hutt News
Last updated 11:57 28/07/2009
The need for health carers to work as a multi-disciplinary team is not some trendy idea or medical mumbo jumbo to be forgotten when the next idea comes along.
Hutt Valley District Health Board chief executive Chai Chuah says it's the critical path forward in the face of workforce shortages, rising care expectations and pressure on funding.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/communities/hutt-news/2680644/Team-work-way-forward-for-health  

Ethics of dancing questioned
Home » Opinion
Wed, 22 Jul 2009
The ethics of dancing being indulged in by persons whose occupation is so sedate as hospital nursing was raised at yesterday's meeting of the Hospital Trustees.
Sometime since, it appears, the trustees promised to give the nurses a dance, and to bring that promise to a fulfilment Mr Tapper rose yesterday to propose- "That the dance be offered to the nurses for the second week of next month, and that the Chairman, Mr Loudon, Mr McDonald, and Mr Gallaway should be a committee to take the arrangements in hand."
http://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/100-years-ago/66334/ethics-dancing-questioned

2025 taskforce: 'Privatisation agenda'
Last updated 10:30 21/07/2009
Left leaning parties have opposed the expected appointment of former National leader Don Brash as head of a productivity taskforce.
Labour and the Greens today criticised the expected announcement that Dr Brash, also a previous Reserve Bank governor, would chair a taskforce to work on ways to close the productivity gap between New Zealand and Australia.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/2612914/2025-taskforce-Privatisation-agenda  

Healthline nurses terrific too
The Dominion Post
Last updated 12:00 18/07/2009
OPINION: Thank you for The Dominion Post's excellent Swine flu ground zero coverage.
It was fantastic to see our health workers get the recognition they deserve.
I would, however, like to also publicly acknowledge our Healthline nurses, who have been a key part of the pandemic's front line, around the clock, seven days a week, since April 25.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/2605410/Healthline-nurses-terrific-too  

Staff Shortages Reduce Beds In West Coast Mental Healt [sic] Unit
Wellington, July 20 NZPA - West Coast mental health patients may be flown to other hospitals because of staff shortages, the West Coast District Health Board says.
The number of beds dropped from nine to five today at the Manaakitanga Mental Health Inpatient Unit at Grey Base Hospital because of staff shortages.
http://www.voxy.co.nz/national/staff-shortages-reduce-beds-west-coast-mental-healt-unit/5/18692 

Hospital warns of surgery delays
The Nelson Mail
Last updated 13:13 20/07/2009
Nelson Hospital has issued another warning that surgery may be delayed because beds are full due to winter illnesses.
Nelson Marlborough District Health Board health controller Mike Cummins said the fact so many beds were being occupied at the hospital was not unusual for this time of year.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/2610115/Hospital-warns-of-surgery-delays  

Drive to cut backlog in heart surgery
By MARTIN KAY - The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 16/07/2009
The Government has started a major push to cut heart surgery backlogs and ensure patients get the same access to healthcare no matter where they live.
Under plans announced by Health Minister Tony Ryall yesterday, heart surgeons, intensive care specialists, nurses and other health workers will work together to set targets and monitor standards.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/2597844/Drive-to-cut-backlog-in-heart-surgery  

Influx of swine flu patients swamps intensive care unit
By KIM THOMAS - Health reporter - The Press
Last updated 05:00 16/07/2009
Christchurch Hospital's intensive care unit (ICU) is overflowing after an influx of people with swine flu.
ICU staff are working extra shifts to cover the overflow, and new patients requiring intensive care may have to be sent to other South Island hospitals.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/2597999/Influx-of-swine-flu-patients-swamps-intensive-care-unit  

A team of Victoria University academics is calling for greater numbers of low-skilled immigrants to be allowed into New Zealand.
Their reports turn traditional immigration policies on their head.
The reports, from Victoria University's Institute of Policy Studies, say an ageing population will require growing numbers of caregivers, mainly from overseas.
Paul Callister, an associate professor at the Institute, says many caregivers these days enter from the Pacific Islands or the Philippines on temporary visas, but this is unsuitable. http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/stories/2009/07/15/1245bbf07292

Big not necessarily better
Tony Fitchett
The minister of health, Tony Ryall, has spoken several times recently (June PHO Alliance and IPAC meetings and Sunday Star Times 28 June) about the number and size of PHOs.
Mr Ryall has suggested there are too many PHOs, governed by too many, overpaid directors, and managed by a bloated and expensive bureaucracy.
http://www.nzdoctor.co.nz/news?article=e569c0af-0c78-41a0-82ff-4b7eb84e8746  

Migration needed to care for ageing population
Published 15 July 2009
New Zealand and Australia need to develop low skill migration programmes if they are to care for their growing elderly populations.
Two new reports from Victoria University's Institute of Policy Studies, Low skill temporary migration in New Zealand: Labour market and human rights law as a framework for managing future migration and Ageing New Zealand: The growing reliance on migrant caregivers, identify challenging policy issues for future low skill migration to New Zealand.
http://www.victoria.ac.nz/home/about/newspubs/news/ViewNews.aspx?id=2921&newslabel=hn   

Health boards welcome change
By AMY MILNE - The Southland Times
Last updated 05:00 13/07/2009
An Amendment to allow the public health sector more flexibility to contract to private hospitals has been welcomed by Southland District Health Board chief executive Brian Rousseau.
Health Minister Tony Ryall last month announced he had amended protocols for district health boards to enter into longer term arrangements with private hospitals to provide more for the needs of the people in their districts.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/2587373/Health-boards-welcome-change  

Nurse struck patient
The Timaru Herald
Last updated 05:00 11/07/2009
A registered nurse has been convicted of assaulting a patient while on duty at Waimate's Lister Home.
Kim-Marie Ainsworth, 38, of Waimate, was found guilty of striking the elderly man, after a defended hearing before Judge Robert Spear in the Timaru District Court yesterday
http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/2584581/Nurse-struck-patient  

Health organisations asked to combine
Last updated 14:03 10/07/2009
Health Minister Tony Ryall is encouraging primary health organisations (PHOs) to combine voluntarily or risk Government intervention.
Mr Ryall has previously criticised the 81 PHOs, saying there were too many bureaucrats adding to $30 million annual cost.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/politics/2583232/Health-organisations-asked-to-combine  

DHB set to undergo major review
Jamie Morton | 10th July 2009
Big changes are set to transform Wairarapa District Health Board and whether that will mean job cuts is yet to be revealed.
DHB chief executive Tracey Adamson said 29 reviews expected to be complete by August would indicate what could be improved at the DHB, which has forecast deficits of $2 million this year and $900,000 next year.
http://www.times-age.co.nz/local/news/dhb-set-to-undergo-major-review/3901166  

Patients' paperwork a mystery: report
By NATALIE AKOORIE - Waikato Times
Last updated 05:00 11/07/2009
A Health Ministry investigation into enrolment irregularities at the clinic of Hamilton GP Suresh Vatsyayann shows paperwork discrepancies involving 1873 patients.
The Waikato Times can reveal The Family Clinic in Beerescourt received almost $327,000 in Government funding for the patients, despite them being enrolled without the form that showed they had made an informed decision to do so.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/2584425/Patients-paperwork-a-mystery-report

PHO millions now at stake
By NATALIE AKOORIE - Waikato Times
Last updated 13:00 10/07/2009
Fears are mounting that millions of dollars of taxpayers' money, used to fund alternative sources of primary health care in the region, could be swallowed up by GPs as Waikato Primary Health Organisation teeters on the verge of collapse.
The PHO delivers almost $60 million of government funding for primary health care each year in the Waikato, $20 million of which is used to co-ordinate Maori health workers, pharmacists, physiotherapists, psychologists, nurses, midwives and other primary providers.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/2582542/PHO-millions-now-at-stake  

Health organisations asked to combine
Last updated 14:03 10/07/2009
Health Minister Tony Ryall is encouraging primary health organisations (PHOs) to combine voluntarily or risk Government intervention.
Mr Ryall has previously criticised the 81 PHOs, saying there were too many bureaucrats adding to $30 million annual cost. PHOs are funded by district health boards to provide essential primary health care services
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/politics/2583232/Health-organisations-asked-to-combine

Trade union leader to guide council staff merger
4:00AM Wednesday Jul 08, 2009
The agency designing Auckland's Super City has hired trade union leader Laila Harre to help it merge 6800 employees of the eight councils into one.
Ms Harre has resigned as national secretary of the Distribution Workers Union to take on a human resources and change management role with the agency, which has to forge the new Auckland Council by October 2010.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10583089  

Male nurse faces charges over pushing dementia patient
Last updated 05:00 07/07/2009
A male nurse faces disciplinary charges after allegedly pushing a dementia patient to the floor and leaving him there for up to an hour.
The name of the nurse, the patient and the rest home have been suppressed, as have any details that could identify them.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/2569523/Male-nurse-faces-charges-over-pushing-dementia-patient  

Vaccine on way for health workers
By KATHERINE NEWTON - The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 07/07/2009
Frontline health workers could be immunised against swine flu within months after the Government ordered 300,000 vaccine doses from a United States drug company.
Up to 150,000 hospital, emergency and primary health care workers will receive two doses of the Baxter Healthcare vaccine, which Health Minister Tony Ryall said would be in New Zealand within a month.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/2569543/Vaccine-on-way-for-health-workers  

Baby boom puts heat on midwives
'Major issue' only few more births away
Last updated 05:00 07/07/2009
The large number of babies being born in Southland is putting pressure on midwives in the region.
The New Zealand College of Midwives midwifery projects adviser Alison Eddey said although it was normal for birth rates to increase slightly every year, Southland had experienced a "surge of births" since 2006.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/2569831/Baby-boom-puts-heat-on-midwives 

Bid to test electronic prescribing
By Edith Schofield on Tue, 7 Jul 2009
A project which would "make a real difference to the care of our patients" by reducing medication errors may be piloted at Dunedin Hospital if it gets approval from a national committee.
http://www.odt.co.nz/your-town/dunedin/64374/bid-test-electronic-prescribing  

Top job
Western Leader
Last updated 05:00 07/07/2009
A new chairman is fronting the Waitemata District Health Board.
Lester Levy has an extensive background in public health and previously held similar positions with South Auckland Health and the Mercy Ascot Hospital Group.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/western-leader/2567917/Top-job  

Nurses' attitude angers new mum
Last updated 05:00 06/07/2009
A woman infected with swine flu who had an emergency caesarean section was left alone for an hour unable to reach her crying newborn son and unaided by nurses who appeared "scared" of catching the virus.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/2566982/Nurses-attitude-angers-new-mum  

Nurses should not be expecting significant pay increases
Audio coverage on Radio New Zealand's Morning Report programme (03/07/09) regarding comments made by Hon. Bill English that nurses should not be expecting significant pay increases. Glenda Alexander, NZNO Industrial Adviser is quoted.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/national/mnr/2009/07/03/state_sector_wages_tied_to_improvement_in_productivity

Wages threat angers unions
The Government has told the country's 50,000 teachers and 20,000 nurses not to expect a pay rise over the next year, prompting anger from their unions and accusations it is acting in bad faith.
Finance Minister Bill English told Parliament yesterday that senior doctors had just received a 4.2 per cent pay rise, which, when added to annual increments, equated to about $11,000 more each.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/2561036/Wages-threat-angers-unions

Hospice plans a step closer
Concrete momentum is gathering around plans to reintroduce hospice services in Wairarapa, with Hospice Wairarapa Community Trust fielding two separate offers for prospective sites in Masterton.
http://www.times-age.co.nz/local/news/hospice-plans-a-step-closer/3900841  

Southern workers enticed north to staff new Auckland labs
Workers at sister laboratories of Auckland's new Labtests company have been asked to help out in its countdown to taking over the region's community pathology service.
Labtests will progressively take over the taxpayer-funded community testing contract from Diagnostic Medlab from August 10 to September 7.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10582214  

Maori palliative care service launched
Maori who live in the top of the south can be assured their whanau will now receive better palliative care, thanks to a new service put together by Whakatu Marae. The Whanau Ora Palliative Care Service was launched at the marae yesterday, welcoming three new kaitakawaenga hauora (palliative-care workers) who will work out of Maori health services in Blenheim, Motueka and Nelson.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/2559790/Maori-palliative-care-service-launched  

Praise for hospital public-private plan
It's hard to see a downside to Health Minister Tony Ryall's plan to encourage public hospitals to contract more work to private hospitals, Palmerston North's Aorangi Hospital chairman Jim Jefferies says.
And MidCentral Health general manager Lareen Cooper said she welcomed any change in policy that made it easier to work with private hospitals.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/2558395/Praise-for-hospital-public-private-plan  

Racism probe call for TDHB
The Human Rights Commission should be called in to investigate whether Taranaki's hospitals are suffering from institutional racism. The proposition was put to the Taranaki DHB's hospital committee yesterday by member Peter Moeahu.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/2554144/Racism-probe-call-for-TDHB  

Govt firm on healthcare ruling
The Immigration Minister is refusing to budge on allowing free healthcare for overstayers' children despite allegations it is a breach of human rights. The issue of overstayers resurfaced last week with news Pacific people were paying $500 to a Maori hapu for fake visas and that thousands of overstayer children were being excluded from schools.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/national/2553980/Govt-firm-on-healthcare-ruling  

DHB talks expand  
The Nelson Marlborough District Health Board this morning announced it was to enter into discussions to share more clinical services with the Canterbury and West Coast health boards. Co-operation over operations across the top of the South Island was discussed in May between Nelson Marlborough and the West Coast.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/marlborough-express/news/2552547/DHB-talks-expand  

Health workers fear changes to private sector use
Health workers fear the Government decision to give District Health Boards (DHBs) greater freedom to use private hospitals will undermine the public health system -- despite Government assurances that it will not.
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/health-workers-fear-changes-private-sector-use-104335  

Guardian Health Care changes name
Guardian Health Care is changing its name to Bupa Care Services NZ from tomorrow following the British health fund's purchase of the New Zealand organisation in late 2007.
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/guardian health-care-changes-name-104357      

Cost-cutting suggestion for hospital is a 'no-brainer'
An Otago District Health Board staff saving suggestion, cutting taxi use between Wakari and Dunedin Hospitals, is a "no-brainer" which might save up to $150,000, chief operating officer Vivian Blake says. It is one of more than 200 money-saving ideas from board staff who were asked by management to come up with ways of saving 5% on their budgets, or $1 million for the new financial year.
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/63536/cost-cutting-suggestion-hospital-a-039no-brainer039

GPs lack confidence in Aoraki PHO
Timaru GPs have passed a vote of no confidence in the Aoraki Primary Health Organisation.
The PHO is contracted by South Canterbury District Health Board (SCDHB) to administer funding to GPs.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/2554181/GPs-lack-confidence-in-Aoraki-PHO  

We should all fight for DHB, says Laws
It’s impossible for Whanganui District Health Board to break even on present funding - and region mayors and MPs need to lobby Government for more, Michael Laws says.
http://www.wanganuichronicle.co.nz/local/news/we-should-all-fight-for-dhb-says-laws/3900773  

Waiting lists to get private care
Patients awaiting elective surgery are more likely to be treated by the private sector under changes announced by the Government. The Cabinet yesterday approved funding changes for district health boards (DHBs), directing them to be more co-operative with private health providers.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/national/2550743/Waiting-lists-to-get-private-care 
 

GP fee increase 'inevitable' if PHOs cut – Dyson
The Labour Party says doctor visits will cost more if the Government meddles with primary health organisations (PHOs). Health Minister Tony Ryall says there are too many bureaucrats in the 80 PHOs that cost more than $30 million a year to run.
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/gp-fee-increase-inevitable-if-phos-cut-dyson-104253 
 

Midwife barred over risk to clients
An Auckland midwife found guilty of professional failings in the case of a stillborn baby has been suspended because of fresh concerns about the risks to her patients. The Midwifery Council has suspended Bala Naidu's practising certificate for an unspecified period after problems emerged during a competency programme.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10581554 

Alice Fieldhouse: Pioneer nurse revamped care and training
Alice Fieldhouse was one of the great nurses of her era, a major figure in reshaping New Zealand's nursing education system, and was among the pioneers who helped revolutionise the way hospitals dealt with mums, babies and children.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/features/obituaries/2544985/Alice-Fieldhouse-Pioneer-nurse-revamped-care-and-training  

Ryall set to cut deep into PHOs
PRIMARY HEALTH organisations have mushroomed into a massive bureaucracy that includes 720 directors some of whom are paid $800 to attend a meeting. A yet-to-be-released Ministry of Health report has identified significant waste and discrepant use of resources within the health bureaucracy. It recommends wholesale changes to the 80 PHOs across the country, which cost more than $30 million a year to run.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/news/2545974/Ryall-set-to-cut-deep-into-PHOs 

Hospice $151,000 better off
Prime Minister John Key has made good on an election promise to South Canterbury Hospice, which will be $151,000 better off over the next two years. When Mr Key visited the hospice last year he said a National government would boost funding for hospices by $15 million a year to help them expand care, retain nursing staff and reduce deficits and their reliance on fundraising.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/2544812/Hospice-151-000-better-off

Hospital looks to close wards at weekends
Closing one or more Wanganui Hospital wards on weekends and targeting overtime rates are among key strategies the Whanganui District Health Board has outlined to battle its growing budget deficit. The Chronicle reported earlier this month the DHB was staring down the barrel of an $11 million-plus deficit this financial year.
http://www.wanganuichronicle.co.nz/local/news/hospital-looks-to-close-wards-at-weekends/3900680 

Nurse gets ban for stealing Valium pills
An Upper Hutt nurse who stole Valium pills from a hospital ward has been named publicly and banned from working in New Zealand for 12 months.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/wellington/2544395/Nurse-gets-ban-for-stealing-Valium-pills  
 
Funding boost for hospice welcomed
Nelson's hospice will benefit from a Government cash injection from the latest Budget, though it will still fall short of basic operating costs needed for palliative care, says Nelson Region Hospice Trust chairman Elspeth Kennedy.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/2531024/Funding-boost-for-hospice-welcomed  

Number crunchers put their spin on flu toll
More than 3000 people could die from a mild influenza pandemic, according to Treasury figures. The agency's April 29 briefing paper to Finance Minister Bill English on the potential economic impact of a swine flu pandemic includes assumptions for a "severe scenario", based on the 1918 flu pandemic, and a "mild scenario" based on the 1957 and 1968 pandemics.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfmc_id=1&objectid=10580611 

Health check scheme botched
The Health Minister is demanding that health boards repay millions of dollars in funding after their "shambolic" delivery of a pre-schoolers' health scheme. In a letter to health boards, Health Minister Tony Ryall said the future of the $9 million-a-year B4 School Check programme was in doubt because of their poor performance.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/2529155/Health-check-scheme-botched  

Rest homes about to get promised money
Rest homes and hospitals will start getting higher daily subsidies for elderly residents next week
The Budget’s $90 million extra for residential care for the elderly starts flowing next week, in the form of higher daily subsidies per resident.
While care facility owners’ representatives say the money should go a long way toward meeting challenges in the sector, the nurses’ union says it’s far from enough to help nurses meet what amounts to “daily crisis” on the job.
From July 1, rest homes will receive a 1.2 per cent increase to their daily rate over and above an inflation adjustment, and hospitals, 1.8 per cent, each year for four years beginning on 1 July.
http://www.nzdoctor.co.nz/news?article=7225fa93-c262-4fc4-8bb2-820f60418b82  

Hospital in line to save big bucks
A Quick Google search and some nursing ingenuity have possibly saved Wellington Regional Hospital hundreds of thousands of dollars. From this week, patients needing peripherally inserted central catheter, or PICC, lines thin tubes inserted into arm veins to allow drugs to be taken intravenously will no longer need to go into theatre.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/2518831/Hospital-in-line-to-save-big-bucks 

Main cities take the brunt as swine flu cases hit 258
Only the most vulnerable will now be swabbed and tested More than 40 people have tested positive for swine flu since Friday, pushing total infections to 258, the Ministry of Health said yesterday.Most confirmed cases - 213 - were reported in the past seven days and were largely in the three main cities.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfmc_id=1&objectid=10579892 

Maori get poorer hospital healthcare: study
Maori get poorer clinical health care in public hospitals than non-Maori, a University of Otago study suggests.
http://tvnz.co.nz/content/2789693  

Funding cuts threaten jobs
CUTS to funding for "non-frontline health services" could see job losses at Tairawhiti District Health.The Government's refocus from public health initiatives, such as diabetes and obesity prevention schemes, to frontline care - including emergency departments, elective surgeries and primary care - has ended the money supply for the TDH nutrition fund.
http://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/Default.aspx?s=3&s1=2&id=12263

Emergency powers not yet needed for swine flu
New Zealand health authorities say the swine flu epidemic is not yet bad enough for them to seek emergency powers, as the Reserve Bank warned it may slow economic recovery.
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/61611/emergency-powers-not-yet-needed-swine-flu 

South Auckland's $35m first private hospital ready to start work
South Auckland's first private hospital will be opened tomorrow by Prime Minister John Key.The $35 million Ormiston Hospital will perform general surgery, endoscopy, plastics, gynaecology, urology, oral and eye surgery, and ear, nose and throat surgery.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/health/news/article.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10579376&ref=rss  

Row on costs of cancelled meeting
Cancelling a health conference to save public money ended up costing taxpayers more than if it had gone ahead, Labour health spokeswoman Ruth Dyson has told Parliament.Ms Dyson said yesterday that Health Minister Tony Ryall had tried to score political points by cancelling the primary healthcare conference scheduled to take place in Wellington in late February.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/politics/2510992/Row-on-costs-of-cancelled-meeting  

DHB tells staff to stay home
Wairarapa DHB has issued a "stay home" message to all staff experiencing flu-like symptoms as efforts to slow the spread of swine flu are stepped up.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/communities/2507941/DHB-tells-staff-to-stay-home 

Health services are being boosted to cope with the increasing number of people with swine flu
The number of confirmed cases in New Zealand has now reached 127. The World Health Organisation has confirmed nearly 36,000 cases globally with 163 deaths.The Ministry of Health's telephone advice service Healthline has been inundated with thousands of calls and its capacity is being increased to reduce waiting times.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/stories/2009/06/18/1245b6272083 

Ryall rejects Labour's conference-scrapping figure
Health Minister Tony Ryall has rejected Labour Party accusations that the Government wasted more than $100,000 by cancelling a health conference scheduled for last February. Labour's health spokesperson, Ruth Dyson, says a paper she obtained under the Official Information Act reveals the cancellation cost at $100,000.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/stories/2009/06/17/1245b619bf30  

Recession linked to lower abortion figures
Tough financial times may be the reason for a decrease in abortions, a lobby group says. Statistics New Zealand issued figures yesterday showing 17,940 legal abortions were performed last year, down 440 from 18,380 in 2007 and down 570 from the peak of 18,510 in 2003.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/2506384/Recession-linked-to-lower-abortion-figures  

Eight cases of elderly abuse a month keep services busy
There are eight active cases of abuse of elderly people being worked on in South Canterbury every month, says Elder Protection Service co-ordinator, Geeta Muralidharan. Monday is Elder Abuse Awareness Day, and although there was no excuse for abuse of any elderly person happening in New Zealand, Mrs Muralidharan said it did so regularly.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/2497375/Eight-cases-of-elderly-abuse-a-month-keep-services-busy  

NZNO Delegation Attending ICN in Durban
Coverage of the NZNO delegation to Durban on Te Karere Thursday 11 June.
Chapter 2 – in last half of chapter.
http://tvnz.co.nz/te-karere/2009-thursday-video-983401

Hospital gives 'stay away' warning
Waikato Hospital is urging people with minor illnesses to stay away after 12 of its patients and a staff member contracted the highly-contagious norovirus.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10577878  

Auckland Hospital ward on lockdown after nurse confirmed with swine flu
An Auckland nurse and her child have been confirmed as having swine flu – prompting the ward the woman works at being put on lockdown. The woman and her child returned from a family holiday in the United Kingdom on flight NZ1, June 6.
http://www.3news.co.nz/News/Auckland-Hospital-ward-on-lockdown-after-nurse-confirmed-with-swine-flu/tabid/209/articleID/108206/cat/41/Default.aspx  

Child cancer unit loses downgrade fight
Wellington's embattled child cancer unit has been downgraded until at least the end of 2010. After more than a decade of uncertainty caused by the successive resignations of health professionals, Capital and Coast District Health Board announced yesterday that the unit would only provide a "high-level secondary service" for at least 18 months.This means families of complex or new patients from the lower North Island face the additional stress of travelling to Christchurch or Auckland for treatment.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/wellington/2493658/Child-cancer-unit-loses-downgrade-fight  

Govt boosts powers to control swine flu
The Government has widened the powers of health officials to order people into quarantine to control the spread of swine flu.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10577277  

Levy’s the man for the job, says Ryall
New Waitemata District Health Board chairman Lester Levy has the skills to "deal with the most complex challenges", says Health Minister Tony Ryall. Mr Ryall announced the appointment saying that Dr Levy had an extensive background in public health and private enterprise as a medical doctor.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/north-shore-times/2482533/Levy-s-the-man-for-the-job-says-Ryall 

New board's aim is to improve patient care
A powerful new clinical board is to operate throughout Taranaki's public hospitals, setting itself the lofty ideal of ensuring all patients have the best of care. The move will conform with the recent directive from Health Minister Tony Ryall who has told DHBs he wants to see more control in the hands of hospital clinicians.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/2480742/New-boards-aim-is-to-improve-patient-care  

Medical hotline planned
A nurse-run hotline offering medical advice might be introduced as concern mounts over patients with acute chest pains and breathing problems staying away from Christchurch Hospital's Emergency Department.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/2480571/Medical-hotline-planned  

Stratford $1m from one-stop health shop
The Stratford community may soon have a one-stop health shop but needs to raise $1m for it to become a reality. To date, the Stratford Health Trust, Taranaki DHB and Stratford District Council have all agreed that bringing together their GPs and health services under the same roof at the Stratford Health Centre on Miranda St would be a major benefit to all.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/2480736/Stratford-1m-from-one-stop-health-shop  

SDHB rebuts claims demolition wasteful
The Southland District Health Board has defended public criticism of its demolition of parts of the old Southland Hospital.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/2480561/SDHB-rebuts-claims-demolition-wasteful  

DHB no-confidence move stymied
A procedural motion again stymied a motion of no confidence against the chair of Wanganui's district health board yesterday. Rana Waitai was about to table a motion of no confidence in Kate Joblin when Michael Laws moved a procedural motion.
http://www.wanganuichronicle.co.nz/localnews/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3798491&thesection=localnews&thesubsection=&thesecondsubsection   

Review aims to cut $8m
The Nelson Marlborough District Health Board is undertaking a major review in an attempt to cut about $8 million from its budget to break even over the next three years.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/2472109/Review-aims-to-cut-8m   

Deskside vigil on hospital staff blowouts
Maternity leave, salaries, overtime and recruitment will come under scrutiny at Waikato Hospital as managers scramble to reduce a staffing budget blowout of $1.5 million every month.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/2471496/Deskside-vigil-on-hospital-staff-blowouts   

ODHB in a fix
If the Otago District Health Board was breaking the law, then it needed to prioritise which laws it would comply with first, hospital advisory committee chairman Richard Thomson told the board meeting last week.
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/59092/odhb-a-fix   

Budget 2009 Coverage
http://news.google.co.nz/news/more?pz=1&ned=nz&cf=all&ncl=dKhsCNcbwrLdC6MT4INNpYgst5myM  

NZ Doctor on line – Interview with Health Minister
http://www.nzdoctor.co.nz/news?article=a83b87fd-d28c-43d7-b1cc-59b51fd4f9e3
(this article talks about what has been cut e.g. Healthy Eating, healthy action)
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10575221  

Health: $3b boost and the spectre of cuts
The health sector gets a $3 billion cash injection nabbing 40 per cent of all new Government funding but cuts are planned. Documents show there will be no increase next year, and funding will decrease after that and the bulk of this year's money is needed to maintain existing services.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/2454906/Health-3b-boost-and-the-spectre-of-cuts   

Budget 09: Government injects $3b into nation's health
While other sectors are having their belts tightened health has been given a $3 billion injection.The $3b over the next four years allows the Government to focus on more doctors and cheaper medicine. Figures announced in the Government budget today show $750 million more a year to be spent on health for the next four years - a total of $3b, or 40 per cent of total government spending.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10575061   

Toi Te Ora public health may merge
Rotorua's Toi Te Ora Public Health Service may soon come under the umbrella of the Waikato District Health Board.
http://www.rotoruadailypost.co.nz/local/news/toi-te-ora-public-health-may-merge/3900192/  

Specialist urges lift in hospital culture
The Dunedin Hospital emergency department's "Putting our Patients First" project has made some gains, but may not get much further without a change of culture at the hospital, emergency specialist Dr Tim Kerruish says.
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/58170/specialist-urges-lift-hospital-culture

Caregiver reinstated after 'naive' student complaint
Nursing students who complained about a caregiver shouting at a rest-home resident did not know the elderly woman was partially deaf, Puriri Court management have said. The "naive" complaint led to a staff member being suspended, before being cleared of any wrongdoing. Health Care Providers New Zealand is calling for nursing students to be given greater understanding of the elderly care sector. NorthTec's's nursing school management is also reviewing whether its complaint protocols had been breached.
http://www.northernadvocate.co.nz/localnews/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3798200&thesection=localnews&thesubsection=&thesecondsubsection   

Hospital upgrade under way
New life will be breathed into Middlemore Hospital when the recently announced $208 million upgrade goes ahead. Health Minister Tony Ryall said last week the government would commit $100m for the upgrade with the rest coming from Counties Manukau District Health Board’s own resources.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/manukau-courier/2440566/Hospital-upgrade-under-way  

Debts make cuts in health services likely
Wairarapa health services face an uncertain future after revelations the region's district health board has blown its budget by $2 million, with officials refusing to rule out service cuts. The financial blowout comes just four years after the region's former health boss, David Meates, told Parliament's health select committee that the board forecast surpluses once the $30 million hospital opened.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/2436961/Debts-make-cuts-in-health-services-likely  

Health board culture at fault: director
A suggestion that the most significant barrier to clinical leadership at the Otago District Health Board is a lack of money and time has been described as "a cop-out" by Association of Salaried Medical Specialists executive director, Ian Powell.
http://www.odt.co.nz/the-regions/otago/57541/health-board-culture-fault-director  

Staff caps lack foresight
Medical typists, telephonists and booking clerks are among the support staff who could be crushed by "the blunt instrument" of Health Minister Tony Ryall's cap on management and administrative staff numbers.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/2432390/Staff-caps-lack-foresight   

TDH and surgeon found liable
TAIRAWHITI District Health and a general surgeon have been found liable after bowel surgery on a 62-year-old woman went wrong and the patient developed septic shock.
http://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/Default.aspx?s=3&s1=2&id=11641

Minister imposes cap on workers
Work to beef up regional health services in future will have to happen at the expense of local planning, MidCentral District Health Board chief executive Murray Georgel warns. Health minister Tony Ryall has told the board it's not allowed to employ any more managers and administrators above the cap it's been set of 560 staff.The cap has been imposed as part of the National Government's 100-day action plan, part of which was a promise to halt the growth in health bureaucracy.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/2425899/Minister-imposes-cap-on-workers  

Midwives welcome boost of $103.5m
Waikato midwives say a $103.5 million cash injection for maternity services over the next four years will help lighten the load for stretched services.
Health Minister Tony Ryall said the $103.5-million package would pay for longer birthing facility stays for new mothers, GP obstetric training, extra ante-natal care for "at risk" mothers, and fully fund the Plunketline 24-hour telephone advice service.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/2426204/Midwives-welcome-boost-of-103-5m  

Cash 'won't extend' hospital birth stays
A $103 million cash injection into maternity services during the next four years is unlikely to lead to longer stays for new mothers in Southland Hospital, a heath board representative said. Health Minister Tony Ryall this week said almost $40 million of the funding was earmarked to increase the length of stay for new mothers in birthing facilities.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/2428323/Cash-won-t-extend-hospital-birth-stays  

Hospital needs known soon
Initial results from the review of the future of hospitals in Otago and Southland could be available in about six weeks. The district health boards regional planning and funding general manager, David Chrisp, told the community and public health advisory committee this week that consultants Cranleigh Health had been contracted to do the work.
http://www.odt.co.nz/the-regions/otago/57111/hospital-needs-known-soon  

Rest home outbreak
At least 10 residents of a Wellington rest home have fallen ill after a suspected norovirus outbreak. Six patients were still in isolation at Vincentian Home for the Elderly in Berhampore two weeks after the virus was first discovered.Four others fell ill but had since recovered.Three people had died since the outbreak began - including two at the weekend - but norovirus is not thought to have caused any of those deaths.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/wellington/2421913/Rest-home-outbreak   

Maternity services get extra government funds
The government will spend an extra $103.5 million on maternity services over the next four years, Health Minister Tony Ryall has announced.
http://tvnz.co.nz/content/2744728  

Wakefield Health surges
Private hospital operator Wakefield Health has reported a more than 40 percent lift in full-year earnings.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/business/2424452/Wakefield-Health-surges  

New hospital unit opens
A vastly different experience is instore for pre-op patients at Middlemore Hospital. The new Theatre Admission and Discharge Unit that opened last week is six times the size of the previous space. It has large open spaces, staff-friendly working areas, a separate waiting room, pre-op and recovery area, and rooms for procedures, consultations and treatment.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/eastern-courier/2422899/New-hospital-unit-opens  

Health care sackings spark action
The director-general of health is to be notified of the sacking of Waikato Primary Health Organisation's board chairman and three independent directors, while a regional investigation has been called for.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/2419833/Health-care-sackings-spark-action

Suicide-risk not communicated before death
The suicide-risk of a mental health patient who died after falling from a bridge on to a motorway was not communicated adequately to her carers before her death, a coroner's court has found.
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/56591/suicide-risk-not-communicated-death  

Editorial: Ryall's goals for health look sharper
Targets can be the bane of any organisation. Unless they are well defined and readily measurable they are worse than useless, create more work than necessary and waste time and money that could be used for something more useful. The Minister of Health, Tony Ryall, has found some classics among the previous Government's targets for district health boards (DHBs), which he has culled from 10 to six.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfmc_id=1&objectid=10572891

Security of job brings more back to nursing
New Zealand's chronic nursing shortage is almost over - thanks to the recession.District health boards say vacancy rates have fallen as former nurses return to make up lost family income and young people turn to nursing for secure jobs.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10571964  

Single PHO Looks Set for Rejection
The Southland District Health Board looks set to reject a proposal for a single Primary Health Organisation tomorrow.
Dunedin-based South Link Health, a not-for-profit independent practitioner association, has approached the district health boards of Southland, Otago and South Canterbury with a proposal to establish a single PHO in each district.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/2406062/Single-PHO-looks-set-for-rejection

Abortion Law Thrown Out
A long-running court case attempting to thrash out the lawfulness of abortions has been a "complete waste of taxpayers' money'' and the law needs to be reviewed by politicians, the Abortion Law Reform Association says.

The Court of Appeal yesterday threw out an appeal by two groups over a High Court decision that expressed "powerful misgivings'' about the lawfulness of many abortions in New Zealand.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/2405666/Abortion-law-appeal-thrown-out  

Nurses Effective with Weight Loss
Nurses are just as effective as more costly dieticians in helping people who have lost weight to keep the pounds off, a New Zealand study shows.

Researchers at University of Otago monitored 200 women, some of whom took part in a nurse-led weight loss support programme and others a more expensive, intensive programme with dieticians and exercise specialists.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/2405599/Nurses-effective-with-weight-loss 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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