Health disasters – useless Coleman in all kinds of shit

36 comments on “Health disasters – useless Coleman in all kinds of shit ”

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1. Ad 1

   4 August 2017 at 10:25 am

   RNZ needs to publish a “waiting list” for Ministers who dont turn up for appointments.
2. Nick 2

   4 August 2017 at 10:27 am

   Coleman has a mental health issue, but unfortunately he is in charge.
3. savenz 3

   4 August 2017 at 10:27 am

   Shocking!
4. Rosemary McDonald 4

   4 August 2017 at 10:31 am

   Arguably The Minister is about as useful as a chocolate teapot. Who is actually in charge of The Misery of Health?

   Tail wagging dog?

   The current Director, despite more than one major stuff up, appears to be beyond reproach.

   https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/exclusive-ministry-health-investigated-financial-mismangement-over-24m-refit

   Also, those concerned urologists at the SDHD….what are they doing when not not treating patients in the public hospital?

   Treating some of those same patients through their private practices?

   Maybe the time has come to force these specialist to make a choice between working in the public system or working for themselves.

   Serving two masters and all that.
   • tc 4.1

     4 August 2017 at 11:36 am

     Nationals henchmen aren’t beyond reproach. I bet he gets told off for not keeping those naughty DHB’s in line and will not get his full bonus for the negative PR.
   • Draco T Bastard 4.2

     4 August 2017 at 2:25 pm

     Also, those concerned urologists at the SDHD….what are they doing when not not treating patients in the public hospital?

     Treating some of those same patients through their private practices?

     Wouldn’t be surprised. So many doctors seem to be doing it now I think it’s time for some legislation preventing doctors working in the public sector from working in the private sector.

     And before anyone gets upset, I’ve seen such clauses in labour hire firms.
     • Rosemary McDonald 4.2.1

       4 August 2017 at 6:20 pm

       I may have said this before, but I once had a conversation with a haematologist at a public hospital clinic about this very issue…which he had raised himself.

       He could not understand how a doctor could split their time and commitment between the public and private systems. As a specialist, he earned more than enough from the DHB to keep his family in a manner to which we could all easily become accustomed…he wanted for nothing…so why on earth create such a conflict of loyalties?

       I suspect that within the hospitals there is some tension between the full time DHB medicos and those who swan in for a couple of days a week and make only a partial commitment to the (public) patients.

       I have no doubt there is an inexorable drive to terminally undermine our valued Public Health system….we allow this at our peril.
       • tomorrow&tomorrow 4.2.1.1

         4 August 2017 at 10:21 pm

         Indeed – it’s a problem, those surgeons who are ambivalent about a public health service – you wonder about their commitment to their Hippocratic oath and how much money they think they need.
         It does not excuse the cavalier attitude of the hopeless Coleman nor the fact that health is grossly underfunded and constantly being undermined by National’s drive to privatise health services, but the behaviour of some specialists is greedy and unacceptable.
         Maybe it is time to have a good hard look at the whole medical profession – the cost and length of training, employment contracts, professional development, excessive fees for GP consultations etc. – and whether as a profession they really are committed to ensuring NZ has an excellent public health system.
   • McFlock 4.3

     4 August 2017 at 5:04 pm

     and paperwork. Lots of paperwork.

     Several might also be wearing other hats beyond “clinician”, e.g. research or teaching junior doctors.
5. Whispering Kate 5

   4 August 2017 at 10:38 am

   My latest Listener has arrived in post today – surgeons are having to compromise patient’s health and safety by using saws and pliers etc bought at Bunnings – I had to read the article twice as I thought surely this couldn’t possibly be true. These instruments are not surgical grade and do no sterilize correctly, some gather rust on them. Honest to God this country has gone to the dogs.

   Surgeons say they cannot afford to buy the expensive instruments needed because of budget constraints. Third World isn’t the name for it – it’s medieval. I urge readers of this site to get hold of the latest Listener and see for themselves what they are confronting whenever they have to have surgery in a public NZ hospital.
   • tc 5.1

     4 August 2017 at 11:20 am

     That’s just the stuff they’ll admit to.

     It’s what they don’t tell the listener would have Coleman, Joyce, Blinglish and the bally lot of them never ever looked at the same again for what they’ve done to Health.

     Inhumane is the term I’d use.
   • Adrian 5.2

     4 August 2017 at 11:34 am

     Builders buy their own saws from Bunnings, well they don’t actually they buy good quality ones, but they’re only on a hundred grand not half a million like a surgeon.
     • McFlock 5.2.1

       4 August 2017 at 2:35 pm

       But it doesn’t matter if a builder loses a flake of steel or paint in the cuts they make, or if the edge they leave is rough or smooth.

       Reminds me a bit of the old criticism of defense expenditure blowouts, $150 hammers and suchlike. Turns out that in some situations you need extra testing for extreme climate durability, and if they do fail you want them to fail in a certain, predictable, and more safe way. Same sort of thing with some specialist surgical equipment.
       • mac1 5.2.1.1

         4 August 2017 at 2:37 pm

         Is Adrian suggesting rather that the surgeons buy their own gear, like a chef or a tradesman?
         • McFlock 5.2.1.1.1

           4 August 2017 at 2:44 pm

           I think so.

           Actually, about five sets of gear and an autoclave, so they can operate on different patients while other gear is being sterilised. And contingency equipment, like trach kits.

           Technically, the ones in private practise do indeed buy their own gear, indirectly through the practise. But then they get more profit, too.
           • Draco T Bastard 5.2.1.1.1.1

             4 August 2017 at 4:54 pm

             Actually, about five sets of gear and an autoclave, so they can operate on different patients while other gear is being sterilised. And contingency equipment, like trach kits.

             Yeah, worked out ages ago that all these contractors we’ve got out there are costing us significantly more because of all the extra gear that’s needed.

             Looks good on the GDP though.
             • McFlock …

               4 August 2017 at 4:59 pm

               No, I was pointing out that a builder might own their own tools because the tools can be used on every job that they are needed.

               Surgical tools require more precision, but more importantly you can’t take a saw from one person’s leg and use it on someone else’s without thorough sterilisation.
               • Draco T Bastard …

                 4 August 2017 at 5:32 pm

                 No, I was pointing out that a builder might own their own tools because the tools can be used on every job that they are needed.

                 A building contractor has their own set of tools. Five builders on a job and that’s five sets of tools. Now, some of those tools you’ll want five of but the major ones you really only need one of – but there’s five there. That extra expense is paid for by the building owners.

                 In the case of contract medical practitioners the multiplication is even higher as you point out and it’s all paid for by us.

                 I.e, private contracting costs us far more for no more benefit.
                 • McFlock …

                   4 August 2017 at 5:47 pm

                   But that’s not actually the point of the story of DHB doctors having to buy their own tools and Adrian’s comparison with builders, is it?

                   Tradesies, even ones employed directly by an organisation, often bring their own tools. Yes, there might be times when not everyone is using their hammer, but they don’t need a sterilised hammer for every nail.

                   Surgeons buying their own tools to supplement a shortage of DHB equipment is a different situation entirely.
     • STEJ 5.2.2

       4 August 2017 at 5:42 pm

       So you are on the table… Surgeon 1: Hey would you like tax cut let me do the job I got my tools at Bunnings. Surgeon 2: No, I can give you a bigger tax cut… I got mine from the Salvation Army…. Adrian whats it to be?
6. Robert Glennie 6

   4 August 2017 at 11:08 am

   Coleman might be in the crap and I hope he is over all that has gone on – and not gone on – under his (not very) watchful tenure. The only good thing in the future with Coleman is that he is part of a Government whose hold on power for this Parliamentary term ends on 22 August and whose future hold on said power just got quite a bit more tenuous in the last 96 hours.
7. Ed1 7

   4 August 2017 at 2:45 pm

   Its not getting any better for patients in Dunedin:
   http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=201853528

   (and of course Coleman not available)
   • ianmac 7.1

     4 August 2017 at 5:03 pm

     Coleman is on with John Campbell in an extended tonight shortly on RNZ.

     Now. 5:07 Oops now 5:40
     • Gabby 7.1.1

       4 August 2017 at 5:16 pm

       He’ll baaaarpp at length about how many more ‘operations’ are being performed without going into details about the kind of operations. He’ll baaaarpp brag about shorter waiting times while glossing over operations getting bumped. He’ll notmyareaofresponsibility when presented with specific cases. If the coward doesn’t bottle it.
8. Draco T Bastard 8

   4 August 2017 at 4:48 pm

   Emily Reynolds‏: Sorry lads but I’m about to do: A Thread

   So: here’s why I’ll never write another ‘we need to talk about mental health’ piece ever again.
9. Pat 9

   4 August 2017 at 6:38 pm

   9 years!….9 years to fix nothing
   • Draco T Bastard 9.1

     4 August 2017 at 7:02 pm

     Nine years of making things worse on so many fronts.
     • Pat 9.1.1

       4 August 2017 at 7:07 pm

       yes…and a point not made about any of the obvious exacerbated problems….this mob have been in control for 9 years and achieved what?…a housing crisis, a health crisis, a suicide crisis, an infrastructure crisis, a water/environment crisis……FFS, when will the MSM start pressing the point?
10. miravox 10

    4 August 2017 at 6:49 pm

    The callous cynicism of the man is summed up here

    A goal of reducing New Zealand’s total suicide rate by 20 per cent over 10 years was rejected over fears the Government would be held accountable if the rate didn’t drop.

    The target would have seen New Zealand aiming for 12 fewer people to die from suicide per year, each year until 2027. An expert panel created to advise the Ministry of Health concluded that target should be the main purpose of the ministry’s new suicide prevention strategy.

    But Health Minister Dr Jonathan Coleman’s office pushed instead for vague phrasing, like “reduce rates of suicide”, that wouldn’t become an “accountability measure” for the Government.

    That went against the unanimous advice of the expert panel that said using the clear, measurable target was the best way to get the whole country on board and help cut the suicide rate.

    The article goes on to illustrate (Scotland’s suicide reduction strategy) that a clear reduction target is essential for galvanising stakeholders.

    Coleman main interest is the risk to his and the governments credibility (with no understanding that his credibility is long gone, imo).

    No wonder Mike King distanced himself from the strategy.
    • Chess Player 10.1

      4 August 2017 at 7:39 pm

      Colman has been considered a dick in my eyes ever since he was sprung smoking tobacco even though he was healthy minister.

      I was never a fan of King as a comedian as I always felt he stole other comedians’ jokes.
      But what he’s doing on the mental health side is fantastic.
      Hopefully he finds a suitable vehicle to get that work ramped up – the worst thing he could do is go into politics though.
11. Marcus Morris 11

    4 August 2017 at 8:24 pm

    I listened to as much as I could stand of tonight’s Checkpoint interview with John Campbell. Coleman had the gall to agree with enthusiasm that the plight of the “prostate patients” cited in the programme was totally unacceptable and then lay the blame squarely on the shoulders of the grossly underfunded DHB. I smiled at an earlier comment in the same programme that claimed that funding inadequacy went back to the previous Minister, Tony Ryall – he who had claimed to have left the whole system in a wonderful “state of health”. The hypocrisy of this government is nauseating but will enough people see at as such. The last thing this election campaign needed was the distraction of Metiria Turei.
    • JC 11.1

      4 August 2017 at 9:27 pm

      MM I managed to barf my way through the entire interview..

      http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/201853638/health-minister-responds-to-southern-dhb-concerns

      I had thought that after several months of non appearances, despite daily requests, that perhaps , ( Perhaps) the MOH might actually front, and have something to say … Alas No! Nothing, Nada!

      At first I bulked! it was a Robot and/or clone of John Key, Everything is Fine and Dandy… or same Shit Different day… Essentially the people of Southland and Otago have been screwed over! Not enough Intensive care Beds, People going Blind. Men waiting 14, ( Yes Fourteen months from being referred by their GP with suspected Prostrate Cancer and yet not even having a firm date for biopsy and/or surgery… FFS!!! The list goes on and ON!

      And as a local GP stated, Examples like that were fraught through out the SDHB

      Isn’t it Great that Todd Barclay represents those folk down South… Just like Simon and his 18 Bridges, The regions get screwed!!!
12. Gabby 12

    4 August 2017 at 8:47 pm

    Coward Coleman reckons his commissioner’s great because she’s halved the deficit.
    Surgeries increased by 33%!!! Yay!!!
    Can’t help thinking he’s marking time until the new hospital.
    What an arsehat.
    Be nice to know whether the funding formula is flawed, the funding is underspent to reduce deficit, there’s some hole that money’s disappearing into.
13. Incognito 13

    4 August 2017 at 10:05 pm

    It’s like a battle of the doctors: Dr Jonathan Coleman vs. Dr Nick Smith – Dr Whoops. The re-Tardis is too small for the both of them.
14. ianmac 14

    4 August 2017 at 10:23 pm

    Is Coleman arrogant? Yes.
    Does he care about patients getting care that the desperately need? No
    Will things change? Hardly.

    Be interesting if the 10 waiting for urgent treatment confirm the claim that 5 miraculously have appointments and the other 5 will get one soon. Sounds too convenient to be credible.
15. AB 15

    5 August 2017 at 7:46 am

    No private health insurance for government MPs or their families. They should be required to use the (public) system they are responsible for managing.

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