'Six days in the public hospital system are an exercise in anxiety, frustration, irritability and, finally, numb acceptance of our broken health system.'
Hospital visit symptoms include anxiety, frustration
Six days in the public hospital system are an exercise in anxiety, frustration, irritability and, finally, numb acceptance of our broken health system and its battle to cope.
The dominant feature is waiting: for a diagnosis, for a bed (16 hours), for someone, anyone, to notice your suffering.
In my case, a repeated three-day cycle of fasting for more than 12 hours and then no surgery reduced me to a quivering wreck incapable of rational thought, and I did an amazing rendition of a noxious toddler deprived of their favourite toy.
Inevitably, you’re stunned into submission and Te Whatu Ora’s jaws have swallowed you whole. You gain a true understanding of what hospital staff are coping with daily and the biggest fallacy being purported by the coalition Government is that the 650 job losses to date aren’t having a detrimental effect on the health system.
Surely a government that promised action on our most critical issues must realise that short-term gains are creating long-term losses and we’re squandering our most precious resource – our medical personnel – who give us the best they have until there is nothing left to give.
While David Seymour is sucking up all the oxygen in the atmosphere over the Treaty Principles Bill and behaving like the wad of tissue left behind in the washing machine (irritating and careless), this Government may want to ponder on the long-term effects of a population who can’t receive adequate primary and acute health services.
Who, then, will build our roads, teach in our classrooms and care for our most vulnerable? I’m very lucky that my ailment won’t kill me, but what of the thousands of other Kiwis who are suffering with no end in sight. Are you listening, Prime Minister?
Mary Hearn, Glendowie.
Longer parliaments
Generally, Matthew Hooton gets things right, however, he has dropped the ball by opposing a four-year parliamentary term (NZ Herald, Nov 29).
The current term of three years is in reality two and a half and that is stretching it. If the Government changes hands it spends the first year wrecking the last lot’s policies and trying to convince people that theirs are better, then when they just get going and not counting all the breaks they get, they go into the third year preparing for the next election totally focused on saving their seats in Parliament.
At least an extra year would give an elected government more time to actually put stuff in place that has not been rushed and ill-researched, just to get something through.
Four years has got to happen. And if we can get all the property-owning MPs to not have a vote on a capital gains tax, I will feel they are not in it for self-interest and that will assist in sorting out our current woes.
Tom O’Toole, Taumarunui.
Suboptimal care
Sadly, the situation of Audrey Wilson while in rest home care is not an isolated incident (Weekend Herald, Nov 23).
While I feel for these institutions and staff dealing with some awful situations, there is a limit to accepting suboptimal care.
The cost of this care is substantial and often borne by family. It’s interesting that when the service is found not fit for purpose, the cost is not refunded or indeed, in my case, adding insult to injury, charged for my wife’s time while in hospital. Seems there is no financial redress unfortunately.
Tony Goodwin, Pt Chevalier.
Rugby names
What a wonderful year for rugby and the All Blacks. The No 1 team in the world, Ireland, and our arch-rivals England and resurging Australia have been beaten, while South Africa, the world champions, remain insurmountable.
There has been the amazing development of Italy and Argentina to now be considered top-tier teams and worthy competitors for the All Blacks, requiring naming our top teams to play them. And the mana of the haka has been enormously enhanced by players and spectators alike, with most crowds remaining silent during its performance. Also, Wallace Sititi has been named breakthrough player of 2024.
Surely now is the time to have the names of the players on the back of the All Blacks jersey. This would enhance the respect and mana of individual players and help the referee and television match officials (TMOs). Additionally, the rare errors of commentators would probably be less frequent.
It also would increase the joy of watching the game, allowing following of individual players, immediate recognition of players at the bottom of the ruck or running down the sideline and the names of players when substitutes come on. We could marvel at the amazing exploits of Sam Cane and TJ Perenara by name rather than just by players No 7 and No 9, and perhaps chant their names. It is possible that spectator interest in the game of rugby could increase and thereby strengthen the sport.
For the recent All Blacks match with the French rugby team, we could see the name of halfback Antoine Dupont every time he ran, passed or kicked the ball and when he switched position, rather than seeing just the No 9 on his back. Announcers and sports writers don’t use numbers; they use the players' names. So why shouldn’t the players’ names be on their backs?
Let’s do this when new teams and players are named for next season as Ireland, England, France, Japan and Argentina have already done.
Harvey White, Epsom.
Develop talent
Why is there so much hype about getting Richie Mo’unga back to play for the All Blacks? There is no doubt Richie is a good first five, but he would hardly rate as one of the greats, eg Dan Carter.
Are the rugby selectors trying to tell us there is no talent in New Zealand? Of course there is, just look at the halfback situation when Aaron Smith left. Now we have a wealth of new talent. The same applies at first-five. We just have to develop them.
Jock Mac Vicar, Hauraki.
Clumsy coalition
It’s a year, 12 painful months, since the election and this crazy, clumsy coalition Government came to power on a raft of what’s turned out to be empty promises. I’m no better off now, nor are my friends. Are you? Is anyone?
Christopher Luxon, as “leader”, seems to spend more time appeasing his coalition colleagues and clinging to his job than spending our money on what will help New Zealand.
Winston Peters at 78 (this is not ageist – I’m in my mid-70s) is probably out of touch with the needs of today’s voters and their whānau and probably too old to be Deputy Prime Minister.
And David Seymour with his tiny Act minority is the latest example of the tail wagging the dog by wasting Parliament’s time and our money, forcing his pointless Treaty Principles Bill on the House, particularly when both his coalition partners have stated they will vote against it and defeat it.
It’s the biggest waste of our money since John Key’s attempt to change New Zealand’s flag. Come on clumsy coalition, get a grip and spend our money on what we voters want. If you don’t, it’s bye-bye in two years’ time.
Andrew Rose, Nelson.
It’s disheartening that both centrist parties don’t want to implement a sugar tax. I have written to Peeni Henare twice during Labour’s two terms and Dr Shane Reti without success about the sugar tax implemented by a Conservative government in the UK. The UK also has a ban on fast-food marketing before 9pm and calorie counts on their menus. It’s time our political leaders put citizens' health over corporate profits.
Kushlan Sugathapala, Epsom.
David Seymour, in one of his coalition Government roles as Associate Education Minister, is quoted as saying that just because someone (TJ Perenara, All Blacks halfback) is very good at rugby doesn’t make them an expert in politics, as seen in his references to the Treaty of Waitangi in the recent All Blacks team haka. I would suggest that just because someone has been in a classroom doesn’t make them an expert in education either.
Steve Horne, Raglan.
Regarding the hysterics over a police officer wearing a gang patch over his uniform, it apparently happened some time ago and was clearly an officer horsing around and having a laugh with his mates. No harm done. We used to be able to have a joke without making a huge drama of things.
Geoff Leckie, Flat Bush.
The new Police Commissioner sounds more like a corporate manager than a policeman as he regularly refers to his fellow policemen as “my team”. It may seem a little pedantic, but may I politely remind Richard Chambers that along with 5 million other New Zealanders, they are “my team”.
Alan Johnson, Papatoetoe.
If plastic is such a toxic product, why isn’t it possible to go back to the pre-plastic era? Supermarkets could install butchers to stand behind a counter and measure the amount of meat we need and wrap it in newsprint, and do the same with sweets and any other commodities. A nuisance and unfashionable? Maybe, but this will go a long way in preserving the planet for our grandchildren.
Ailsa Martin-Buss, Glendowie.
Instead of spending huge amounts of money and time encouraging the public to do the right thing (often without limited success), why not charge anyone who fails to have a child vaccinated and that child contracts whatever the disease is, with child neglect or something similar. There would need to be a publicity campaign to make sure as many people as possible know the consequences of their inaction.
Barry Towers, Morrinsville.
David Seymour’s boast about having more influence in the coalition than his 8% vote correlates nicely with the fact the economy is in recession, young New Zealanders are heading overseas in record numbers, rapidly rising unemployment and destroying the racial goodwill fostered by the Key and Ardern governments. Keep up the good work David, history will not look kindly on you.
Paul Kenny, Ponsonby.
The Government is urged to address our worsening obesity statistics – what happened to personal responsibility and willpower? I understand this isn’t a black-and-white issue, but we need to look in the mirror now and then. Nobody said it would be easy. In fact, it can be a long and painful battle as most of us know.
Fiona Helleur, Milford.
You know that Television NZ is deep into the financial mire when the best it can do in prime time on a Tuesday night on TVNZ1 is two hours of Kirstie and Phil.
Graham Fleetwood, Tauranga.
There is no law that superficially states the practice is illegal.