Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

We've all seen it. The strain on the health system has become unendurable for so many health professionals, who have given far more than should ever have been asked of them. Some of them have been working quite frankly illegal hours covering for sick and absent colleagues doing jobs they were never meant to do, because there is nowhere else for people with diverse needs to go. They are every day dealing with frightened, angry people, who are being let down by a hospital system and the health system beyond the hospitals, that's only being propped up by the sacrifices of those at the coalface. Bring more people in they have begged. We need more health professionals. Every single individual health professional group has been screaming for support and the Government has dragged its heels, for whatever reasons, it has dragged its heels. Eventually, begrudgingly, the Government established the Green List in July of last year, which provided pathways to residency, either immediately or after two year for 85 professions identified being most in need. But nurses were excluded, initially, from immediate residency, along with many other professions deemed to be in demand worldwide. To be fair, both the Health Minister at the time, Andrew Little, and his associate, now Health Minister Dr Ayesha Verrell, fought for nurses to be included on the immediate residency pathway. But for reasons of their own, immigration and the Government denied that request.   The Health Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall said New Zealand needed to look abroad as well as locally to fill the health sector's worker shortage.  She says we have immediate shortages we need to address. No, Dr Verrall, we had them two years ago. We had them three years ago, we've had them for ages. You hear Andrew Little say everything's fine. You know, we've got nurses at nursing school. We've got more doctors than ever before at our Med schools. The doctors say we would like to open another Med school. Oh, no, no, no, no. When we say we want them local, we don't want them local enough that we open another Med school. Everything's fine, except it's not because slowly, eventually, gradually, even the Government comes to realise that everything is not fine. And so they make the changes that were asked of them by so many professional groups, so many years ago. And it's almost too late.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Immigration Minister is expecting thousands of people to arrive on our shores as a result of immigration changes in the healthcare sector. 32 new health jobs have been added to the Straight to Residency pathway on the Green List. They include dentists, paramedics, optometrists and pharmacists. Immigration Minister Michael Wood told Tim Dower earlier this morning that some of these roles hadn't had a lot of advocacy previously, but after sitting down with the sector, they've been added. National Health spokesperson, Dr Shane Reti, heard the Minister's comments and called Kerre Woodham Mornings to refute those claims. Reti says Michael Wood is blatantly wrong, clearly out of touch and two documents attest to that. "First of all an OIA from February 2022, a year ago, that shows the Ministry of Health requesting that key health roles such as dentists, pharmacists, physios and social workers be added to the green list. "Then if we go a year further back than that, a letter from Keriana Brooking on behalf of all DHBs to the minister and to MBIE saying that if the immigration settings were not changed we would not quote 'avert a health crisis.'" LISTEN ABOVE        See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our Government has confirmed it is discussing joining the non-nuclear part of the AUKUS alliance founded by Australia, the UK and US. Defence Minister Andrew Little said “We have been offered the opportunity to talk about whether we could or wish to participate in that pillar two [non-nuclear] aspect of it,” and "I’ve indicated we will be willing to explore it.” In the early 1980s, New Zealand walked out of the ANZUS pact on principle, rather than be an accomplice to nuclear war. Now it seems we may be becoming a nuclear ally, via the AUKUS pact. To discuss this, Director of International Studies at Otago University, Professor Robert Patman joined Kerre Woodham. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You might have heard Prime Minister Chris Hipkins on the Newstalk ZB this morning saying the Government will be making a carefully balanced decision on whether to scrap the mandatory seven-day isolation period for people who test positive for Covid. Cabinet will be reviewing Covid rules with an announcement expected sometime this in the near future. They're going to be basing their decision on the latest public health advice and the state of the health system heading into winter. Well, we can tell them that it's buggered, isn't it? I mean, it's pretty much stuffed. The Prime Minister told Tim Dower this morning it's a careful balancing act between the impact of people being unable to go to work and the impact of Covid spreading. The public health professionals, who we all saw rather too much of throughout Covid, have been urging the Government over the weekend to keep the few remaining restrictions in place. These being the seven-day isolation period and the wearing of masks in many spaces to protect against not only Covid, but the other dangerous respiratory illnesses doing the rounds including flu and whooping cough. And all of them were preaching the abundance of caution message, which I suppose is their job. This is what they're trained to do. To warn people about infectious diseases and try to prevent any deaths at all. I get it. I guess when it comes to the mandatory stand down period, what that did was give people who don't have flexibility or autonomy with their employers the ability to take time off. They had to. They had no choice in the matter. So many people during those awful years rang me and said they would be going to work regardless of whether or not they tested positive, because they simply could not afford to stay home. So where do you stand on this one? I imagine it will depend on whether you're an employee with a good boss and you'll say, yes, well, get rid of the mandatory period. You have somewhere where you can rest where you're not surrounded by ten other people. You've got the ability to get yourself better. But if you're someone and your income is the difference between having a roof over your head or not, and you are told to stand down for seven days. You're not going to do it, are you? You're going to drag yourself out of bed; no matter how sick you're feeling and go to work because that is what you have to do. So what's right in your opinion? Keep the mandatory stand down period for those who simply haven't got the luxury of taking time off, it has to be enforced before they can do it. Or rely on common sense?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The mandatory seven-day isolation period after a positive Covid test could soon be a thing of the past. Cabinet ministers are today considering whether to ease Covid rules, with an announcement expected some time this week. The Prime Minister says it's a careful balancing act between the impact of people being unable to go to work, and the impact of Covid spreading. To discuss, Kurt Krause, Professor of Biochemistry and Infectious Diseases Specialist at Otago University joined Kerre Woodham. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

First up health, because we really can't ignore it. What will come as no surprise to many, Te Whatu Ora,  also known as the health department, has shown that the performance of the nation's hospitals has worsened over the past year in almost every department.  ED waiting times are bad; more than 6000 patients who have been pre-approved for surgery have been left languishing, many in pain for more than a year. People are having to fund their own surgeries after being let down by the public health system. You might have seen the story over the weekend the hospital system is also having to deal with a young man with special needs because there is nowhere else to put him. He's not unwell. He's not sick. He's not needing medical attention. But the hospital and the nurses, who are not specially trained to look after this young man with his neurodiverse needs, is taking up a hospital bed because there is nowhere else to put him. Nine months into this brand-new vision for the nation's health services, the head of Te Whatu Ora, Margie Apa, says the system is under strain.  So what is the answer? Is it training more GP's, training more surgeons, training more doctors? Is it importing them? Is it encouraging Kiwis to take responsibility, (shocking, shocking thought) for their own health? Rewarding them for doing so?  Many people who end up in hospital end up there because of chronic health conditions that could be alleviated with a change of lifestyle.  Do we reward New Zealanders who show up for checkups? The number of people I have spoken to who are frustrated beyond belief because there are clinics that people can attend, that they are told to attend so that their health conditions don't get worse. They don't turn up. Vans are put on for them, taxis are provided, but they don't show up.  So a little bit of carrot, a little bit of stick to encourage New Zealanders to be more responsible for their own health, perhaps.  Instead of just bemoaning the fact that, you know, we've got so many people in hospital and there are so many people who require surgeries, do we go back, right back to the very beginning and say, OK, well, why are people in hospital in the first place? Should we be doing more to prevent people needing hospital care anyway?   Do we need to look at things a little bit differently? I'd love to hear from you on that. Perhaps reimagining how we do health in this country because what we have right now is not working and it's not working for anybody. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Insurance claims from the recent weather events have reached $2.47 billion. Insurers have so far paid out about 15 percent of claims. EQC’s insurance expenses were $359 million for the eight months ending February 28, up from $235 million a year earlier. Insurance Council Chief Executive Tim Grafton told Kerre Woodham they've made a good start, but most payments have been for vehicles, not houses. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For some New Zealanders, it's the difference between living with dignity or living on handouts. For other Kiwis, it's a bit of pin money that pays for the grandkids swimming lessons or is handed on to a favorite charity. The National Super is back in the news, with economist Shamubeel Eaqub calling for the Super to be means tested, and for the age of eligibility to be raised to 70. The cost of the Super right now is $55.7 billion, in a year. That's as much as we spend on the education budget. That figure is only going to rise as an extra 1 million New Zealanders hit pension age over the next 50 years. As the French riot over the very suggestion that their retirement age should rise to 64 -quelle horreur! We haven't rioted yet, but it does get people's passions up when we talk about raising the age of the National Super.   So what's fair? What's right? Shamubeel Eaqub is saying look, it needs to be means tested. There is absolutely no reason why wealthy people already living comfortably need taxpayers to pay them a pension. They have enough. They want the age of eligibility, he wants the age of eligibility to be raised to 70. I think that would be fine. If you've worked a desk job like me all your life, or if you've had it, you know, relatively comfortable all your life. If you've been clambering up ladders or crawling under houses or cleaning 15 floor buildings, lugging heavy carts around, I think 70 is way too old to expect you to keep going towards them. So maybe what's fair is that Susan Saint John's policy whereby you get taxed. If you're already earning enough, you'll get taxed. If you're not earning enough, you won't. So that makes it fair. I think the days of saying, look, I've paid for this, I paid taxes all my life and I deserve it at the end, are over. Taxes have come down. In the olden days, when people were paying 50-7 cents $0.63 in the dollar, sure. You know these days, there is no universal benefit other than the Super. But what is the point? Of some people getting it as a bit of PIN money, when there are those who are in real need, who could do with those dollars? What is fair? What is right? What is just? What do you do with the pension? Do you need it to live on? Or is it just nice to have? If you're in your 20s or 30s, when you think about retirement, if. You think about it at all. You know, retirement comes sooner rather than later. One minute you're faffing along in your 20s, thinking you'll never be old, and the next thing ****** me, I am so. If you haven't thought about retirement, it'd be a good, good idea to do so. Do you believe there'll be a taxpayer funded super for the day you hang up your tools? For the day you turn 65. Or are you planning on looking after yourself as best you can? Come the day when the alarm clock no longer rings. And you can look forward to retirement.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Red Cross raised nearly 18 million dollars in the name of cyclone relief. However, only 1.9 million dollars —just under 11%— has been spent in the month since Cyclone Gabrielle hit. This number includes a 1.1 million dollar contribution to the Wairoa District council, to help those with yellow-stickered homes restore them. South Auckland community leader Dave Letele met with Red Cross NZ Secretary General Sarah Stuart Black on Saturday to discuss transparency, and what that money has been used for. Dave Letele joined Kerre Woodham to give an update on the situation. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Discussions about raising the retirement age have continued to grow, with economist Shamubeel Eaqub suggesting that it should slowly be raised to 70 and means tested. France has been rocked by violent protests over the past month in response to President Macron’s plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. Labour says it will keep our retirement age at 65 while National has pledged to raise it to 67. Retirement Commissioner Jane Wrightson joined Kerre Woodham to discuss the situation. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.