Convicted murderer Joseph Martin Reekers has won another hearing after appealing his 15-year non-parole sentence for killing Auckland hairdresser Marie Jamieson 10 years ago.

The Court of Appeal this morning quashed the conviction of a south Auckland man jailed for 20 years for the murder of an elderly Chinese woman who died after a vicious beating during a robbery in 2008.

Paying overnight staff to sleep will cost more than $500 million over three years and changing the law may be considered, Health Minister Tony Ryall says.