M.I.A.
OPINION: The previous government spent too much during the Covid-19 pandemic, despite warnings from officials, according to a briefing released by the Treasury.
The Government has launched a plan to manage hospital waiting lists on a national scale, says Health Minister Andrew Little.
“Covid-19 has been hugely disruptive to hospital systems all over the world,” Little told health users, providers and unions in Auckland this morning.
“In England, for example, there was a 200-fold increase in the number of people waiting for planned care for more than a year, from just over 1,600 in February 2020, to more than 300,000 in Novembr 2021.”
Little says New Zealand has done better in its elimination strategy than other countries which, he claims, has prevented the health system from being overrun.
“In fact, for most of the past two years, our hospitals have been free of Covid-19 and were able to keep functioning normally for long periods of time.”
However, he says the Delta and Omicron variants have put pressure on hospitals.
The number of people waiting longer than four months for their first appointments with hospital specialists had doubled because of the pandemic, and the number of people waiting longer than four months for treatment has more than trebled.
“For people who need these procedures and appointments, having to wait is distressing,” Little says.
“Now, with the benefit of having one of the most highly vaccinated populations in the world, and with a suite of new medicines available to treat Covid-19 patients and keep them out of hospital, we can start managing on a more business-as-usual basis.”
The Government’s waiting list response is being led by interim Health New Zealand and the interim Māori Health Authority. The two organisations will become permanent entities when the Government’s health reforms come into effect July 1.
“We have an opportunity right up-front to harness one of the principal benefits of the reforms – a truly nationwide approach to the health problems that affect us all,” Little says.
The work will be overseen by a taskforce headed by Counties Manukau chief medical officer Andrew Connolly.
The taskforce is designed to help hospitals take necessary short-term measures to reduce wait times, and will be responsible for delivering a national plan by September.
“I have been told that if we try to approach this problem in the ways we have before, it could take between three to five years to clear the planned-care backlog,” Little says.
“It is my expectation that we can clear the backlog in considerably less time than that.”
Like many manufacturers around the world, European agricultural machinery and tractor manufacturers are currently operating in a difficult market environment. But they are heading to the world’s largest agricultural machinery event in Hanover next month with a degree of cautious optimism.
Established in 2021, the John Deere Technician of the Year Awards champion the important contribution parts and service technicians make to the Australian and New Zealand agriculture, construction and forestry industries.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) is calling on farmers from all regions to take part in the final season of the Sheep Poo Study aiming to build a clearer picture of how facial eczema (FE) affects farms across New Zealand.
New Zealand is closer to eradicating bovine TB than ever before, but possums remain a threat, says Beef + Lamb New Zealand.
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has joined the debate around the proposed sale of Fonterra’s consumer and related businesses, demanding answers from the co-operative around its milk supply deal with the buyer, Lactalis.
The ACT Party says media reports that global dairy giant Nestle has withdrawn from the Dairy Methane Action Alliance shows why New Zealand needs to rethink its approach to climate.
OPINION: Ageing lefty Chris Trotter reckons that the decision to delay recognition of Palestinian statehood is more than just a fit…
OPINION: A mate of yours truly recently met someone at a BBQ who works at a big consulting firm who spent…