Premium Debate: Readers respond after nurse gives minister’s contact details to mum in emergency department

Health Minister Andrew Little. Photo / Mark Mitchell

RNZ reports a woman who was at Wellington Hospital’s overcrowded emergency department says a nurse gave her a laminated card with Health Minister Andrew Little’s contact details on it and suggested she talk to him after the woman remarked that the system appeared broken.

The woman says a family member emailed Little about her experience. Little said he was not aware of any queries to his office as a result of the cards being handed out, and said Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand had assured him it was giving under-pressure hospital emergency departments extra support.

Read the full story: No crisis? Nurse gives minister’s contact details to frustrated mum after Wellington ED ordeal

So. I’m a nurse. I’m not working. I’m about to have to go onto a visitor visa because INZ will not process our RV21. My partner is a civil engineer and he is now on Tier One of the Green List (the same one that excluded nurses and teachers), but our application was submitted under RV21, because we came during closed borders and did two weeks of MIQ. That was a huge mistake, because now everyone else (those who came after us and those who aren’t even in NZ yet) keeps getting residence before we do. We are planning on going home, because we have just not been allowed to make a life here and we can’t take it anymore.

-Joseph L

[I have] recent experience in Colchester Hospital Essex A&E and a friend’s experience of visiting a busy A&E in North London. Yes, busy, but an air of quiet efficiency and good systems in place. Nurses waiting in the entrance to triage who should come in or not. Chairs for those designated elsewhere. Waited one-and-a-half hours, saw nurse who ordered x-rays, done in 10 minutes, back for results and treatment. Staff cheerful and under control. Compare Waitemata A&E, fantastic dedicated staff but overwhelmed and obviously stressed. Random people around A&E. My 96-year-old mother ended up in [a] corner of the ambulance station as there was nowhere else. Our hospital staff deserve better systems. We read negative news of overseas, but my observation was, I’d rather be a nurse in Colchester A&E than New Zealand. Sad.

-Marie K

How many resources were wasted when the Govt was transitioning into the new health system during the worst part of the pandemic? Hospitals were bursting at the seams with unprecedented demand and they still insisted on changing to the new health authority. The money and resources this Govt has wasted with very little return is disgusting. The push ahead for their ideology, no matter what, has only resulted in irreversible damage to this country. Worst Govt ever, by a long shot.

-Selwyn O

As someone who had an aggressive cancer in 2014 and various health-related problems since then, I have found the public health system to be responsive and of a very high standard. I live in Auckland and accept other areas of the country may be different, however, I suggest that many people “knocking” the health system have an anti-Labour government barrow to push and therefore ulterior motives for slagging off the system.

-Ken E

The Minister might want to learn the Toyota system of Kaizen, which is a system of continuous improvement. One of the things is “go to the source of an issue and observe”. The Minister getting reports from the DHB isn’t going to show the true picture.

-Glenn H

The issue is too many bureaucrats and not enough staff who actually do the work. Stop adding cost in the wrong place (policy staff). And perhaps drop Three Waters and use the money to recruit doctors and nurses. Also, make migration easier for them. It isn’t rocket science.

-Kerry H

A year ago, everyone agreed it was “incredibly hard”. A year ago, queues at EDs were record-breaking. A year ago, we all knew we had a huge problem with shortages of nurses and doctors. Two years ago, Andrew Little was made Minister of Health, and all he can come up with today is that the Government has “initiatives” under way.

It’s more than just hard. Staff are broken. Doctors are being called on their annual leave and being pushed to come back to work. Nurses are leaving the industry or leaving the country for a reasonable work environment and better pay.

Here’s an initiative. Stop sweeping this horrendous problem under the carpet. Take accountability and resign so that someone more capable has the opportunity to fix this before EDs have no choice but to close.

- Duane M

- Republished comments may be edited at the editor’s discretion.