Posts Tagged ‘health’

Health service funding

Written By: - Date published: 7:44 am, September 25th, 2014 - 62 comments

The Nats are steadily cutting funding (in real terms) to health (and other sectors). Today, yet another doctor broke. Welcome to the brighter future.

Smokefree? Then Cut the Crap!

Written By: - Date published: 3:30 pm, March 18th, 2013 - 48 comments

ecigApparently the government is concerned for the general health of people in New Zealand. Apparently, an expression of this concern is the roll out of policy initiatives that will result in New Zealand being smoke free by 2025.

Curing Tobacco

Written By: - Date published: 11:10 am, May 28th, 2012 - 125 comments

So tobacco is a ridiculously addictive drug that offers no accompanying high for the user. It has pretty dire health consequences and was promoted for years as harmless, chic and sophisticated and the government even gave it away to combatants during WWII by the carton load.

But now the government wants it gone.

Asbestos City

Written By: - Date published: 7:40 am, September 26th, 2010 - 20 comments

In the aftermath of the twin towers, the dust that accompanied their collapse gave rise to a health crisis in the medium/long term that continues to play out to this day.  And given the prevalence of asbestos in Christchurch buildings, it just might be that the earthquake will result in a number of preventable deaths after all…

National’s newspeak

Written By: - Date published: 10:57 am, March 5th, 2009 - 15 comments

When he’s not hard at work protecting the profits of tobacco giants by helping them peddle smokes to your kids, Ryall’s having a go at his own version of Newspeak. Stuff reports that there’s a list of banned words currently circulating in the Health Ministry. The list includes “public health, social change, inequalities and advocacy”. […]

Hidden costs of private hospitals

Written By: - Date published: 2:39 pm, May 26th, 2008 - 13 comments

If you’re paying for your health care you’d expect good service wouldn’t you? The release of four health commissioner decisions over the weekend and covered by the Sunday Star Times, focused attention on private hospitals and the potential for catastrophic outcomes from relatively minor operations. According the report, Health Commissioner Ron Paterson says the cluster of cases […]

I’ve got a solution, what’s the problem?

Written By: - Date published: 9:44 am, April 23rd, 2008 - 38 comments

The junior doctors’ strike is a difficult issue. On the one hand, these are highly valuable workers whom we can’t afford to lose overseas and they do work long hours in difficult conditions. On the other hand, the pay rise they want would cost $50 million and is well above what other medical professionals have […]

In praise of ACC

Written By: - Date published: 2:21 pm, April 3rd, 2008 - 34 comments

It was nice to see this independent report into the ACC scheme by Price Waterhouse Coopers. Amongst the general positive comments was this observation: “The ACC under its current implementation structure performs as well or better than most other schemes we can observe around the world.” “No fault” models (such as ours) are associated with: […]

What’s up, Doc?

Written By: - Date published: 11:37 am, March 31st, 2008 - 19 comments

There have been a number of stories recently about the number of doctors heading overseas but they are usually sensationalist and lack context. The most important questions are how many doctors do we have working in New Zealand, and how does that relate to the size of the population? Fortunately, the Medical Council produces an […]

More on mental health

Written By: - Date published: 12:36 pm, March 18th, 2008 - 11 comments

After reading Steve’s piece about suicide prevention and the subsequent comments I’ve decided a short history lesson on this issue is needed. In the late eighties and early nineties the mental health model was shifted from an institutional model to the ‘recovery model’. Effectively this meant mental health patients were shifted from facilities such as […]

Focus on suicide

Written By: - Date published: 9:02 pm, March 17th, 2008 - 31 comments

The Government has launched a new suicide prevention action plan. Suicide is a tragedy that has touched several Ministers personally and it is good to see them putting more effort into confronting it. The aim of the strategy is to improve mental and social well-being for at risk people as well as providing more effective […]

The Hawke’s Bay DHB report

Written By: - Date published: 4:52 pm, March 17th, 2008 - 34 comments

The report into the Hawke’s Bay DHB is out and, like everything to do with DHBs, it makes boring reading. That tireless muck-raker, Tony Ryall, won’t like it but the report reveals no corruption just sloppy work by DHB board member Peter Hausmann and the DHB Board. Hausmann worked for Healthcare NZ on a tender for […]

Ryall reveals his hollowness on Agenda

Written By: - Date published: 3:54 pm, October 1st, 2007 - 13 comments

all_your_base has already posted on Tony Ryall’s weasel words on yesterday’s Agenda programme, but what struck me about the interview was Ryall’s utter hollowness on policy. Here he is farming out elective surgery to the private sector: GUYON: Okay let’s talk about elective surgery because the Ministry of Health says at the moment the private […]

Weasel-words from Tony Ryall

Written By: - Date published: 12:48 pm, October 1st, 2007 - Comments Off on Weasel-words from Tony Ryall

This almost defies belief. Just as I was thinking that Ryall couldn’t screw up the release of their health policy any further… He shows up on Agenda and by refusing to answer Espiner’s direct question only adds to the impression that National’s not being straight with the public on its plans to cut health spending. […]

National: The market will set doctors’ fees

Written By: - Date published: 11:49 am, September 27th, 2007 - 8 comments

There’s been a bit of debate on The Standard about what National actually stands for. Up until now there have been those who have bought the Nats’ “moderate” rebranding. Yesterday though, Key and Ryall let the cat out of the bag. They haven’t changed at all. They’re the same old National Party. In what marks […]

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