Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: Radio New Zealand

Specialists say the health postcode lottery is rampant when it comes to trauma care.

The South Island was bearing the brunt of a funding shortfall, according to a New Zealand Medical Journal editorial released on Friday.

Health NZ and the minister of health rejected the claims, and said South Island trauma patients were receiving “timely, quality care with strong outcomes”.

But the authors, senior staff from Christchurch Hospital – one of the busiest emergency departments in Australasia – said the trauma team faced “considerable operational challenges” thanks to underfunding, staffing gaps and data collection issues amid increased admissions.

Injury is the leading cause of death in New Zealand for those under the age of 44, with major trauma the second most common reason for hospitalisation. The South Island’s rates of traumatic incidents are higher than the national average,

However, trauma care had historically been viewed as the “poor cousin” of healthcare, and suffered from inadequate resourcing and attention, surgeon Dr Chris Wakeman said.

In August, Auditor General John Ryan tabled a report which showed elective services in the health system were often “not equitable or timely”, with the same level of clinical need qualifying for treatment in some districts, but not others.

“As a result, a person’s ability to access treatment is, to a significant extent, determined by where they live,” the report noted.

Wakeman said there was no question the same applied to traumatic injury care, and had done for some time.

“It does feel frustrating that we’ve published for more than 10 years about inequity between the two islands.”

Christchurch Hospital took patients from across New Zealand, but the ACC model for funding emergency departments was based on census population data, he said.

“We take neurosurgical patients from Dunedin, we take spinal patients from Taupō south – if you’re north of Taupō you go to Middlemore, if you’re south you come to Christchurch, we also take all the transfers from Nelson, Grey, Timaru.

“It does seem unjust that we can’t employ the amount of staff [we need] … we’ve had to close because we have no junior doctors to run the service.”

A study of almost 800 patients earlier this year showed the hospital’s specialist trauma admitting service failed to improve patient outcomes due to staffing gaps, limited operating hours and underfunding.

The service, established in January 2022, was “launched without adequate funding, resulting in significant staffing shortfalls, including limited trauma surgeon involvement (fewer than four hours per week), no dedicated house officer and restricted operational hours (Monday to Friday only),” according to the University of Otago research, co-authored by Wakeman.

The team had the worst nurse-to-patient ratio in the country and no funding for administration or data management support.

Combined with “the alarming lack of medical resourcing”, the service was under “critical strain”.

The authors also advocated for a more uniform approach to benchmarking, and noted that while many North Island hospitals had gone or were going through the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons’ Trauma Care Verification Program, no South Island hospitals had done so.

“If Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora is serious about ending the postcode lottery, then Christchurch should be expected to meet the same standards as Waikato.”

While Christchurch Hospital “would currently fail”, it would still provide “valuable, unbiased identification of service gaps and help guide the allocation of resources”, he said.

“If we go through a tick box and look at what we need, we would fail, but it would highlight the issue and put in black and white exactly what we need to do and what we need to aim for, and repeat verification would hopefully prove we’ve achieved our goals of improving trauma care in the South Island.”

Asked if the levels of underfunding was making the emergency department unsafe, Wakeman said he liked to think staff did a good job, “working hard and compensating”.

“But it makes it harder, and burnout is higher over the whole hospital,” he said.

At the start of the year, Health NZ urged people to avoid Christchurch Hospital’s emergency department unless it was “life threatening”.

On its social media page, the hospital said its emergency department was “extremely busy” with “large numbers of people coming in for care”, and asked people with non-life-threatening emergencies to go elsewhere “to reduce the pressure”.

Health NZ Te Wai Pounamu deputy chief executive Martin Keogh later said it was due to increased demand caused by surgical cases, and was “definitely not a staffing issue”.

The following month, RNZ revealed the hospital’s internal staff planning system showed the hospital had 120 fewer nurses than recommended, with the emergency department short 25 nurses.

But Health NZ spokesperson Hamish Brown said current resourcing levels “continue to meet demand”.

“Trauma patients who present to Christchurch Hospital are receiving the care they need, when they need it, and with good outcomes.

“The trauma team is focused on trauma admissions and is only one part of a wider multi-disciplinary team of highly trained and experienced clinicians who regularly provide care to trauma patients,” Brown said.

Minister of Health Simeon Brown said South Island trauma patients continued to receive timely, quality care with strong outcomes at Christchurch Hospital.

“To further strengthen trauma care across the South Island, Health New Zealand has reinstated its regional trauma network, working closely with the Trauma National Clinical Network to deliver a consistent, nationally standardised approach,” he said.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

US President Donald Trump no longer has beef with some Kiwi exports, but others are still stuck paying a high price – and an economist warns it’s anyone’s guess how long the relief will last

A surprise backflip on tariffs from Washington delivered a rare win for New Zealand’s primary sector – but there are concerns that the removal could be reversed at any time.

New Zealand economist Brad Olsen doesn’t have high hopes it will lead to the permanent end of the tariff saga.

“I really don’t think this is the case,” the Infometrics principal economist tells The Detail.

“I’d love it. I’d love us to go back to, you know, a position where tariffs weren’t normal and expected, but in all of my conversations with those overseas, it’s a pretty constant view that tariffs are here to stay, in some way, shape, or form.

“You’d hope that maybe over time they get less intense, but there is a real focus domestically in the US, as the world’s largest economy, that they are still feeling the hit – or feeling a perceived hit – from challenges overseas in terms of import levels and wanting to do a lot more domestically.

“That means that any future administration will find it tough to unwind that full level of tariffs because immediately everyone is going to [pillory] them and say, ‘well, you are looking after other countries and you are not looking out for number one in the US’.”

The tariffs, part of Trump’s “America First” agenda, were introduced in April at 10 percent, then raised to 15 percent in August.

But less than a week ago, with relatively little fanfare, Trump announced that the tariffs on products representing around 25 percent of our exports to the US and worth about $2.2 billion annually, would be removed, effective immediately.

Put simply, America needs cheaper food, and New Zealand has it.

“It seems very much a political decision based around the cost-of-living challenges that US consumers have been facing,” Olsen says.

“You have a number of products that have been increasing [in cost], sometimes because of the tariffs, sometimes not, but being exacerbated often by those tariff costs.”

Potential wide-ranging benefits

The tariff removal is a win for New Zealand, but Trump’s famously changeable policies have meant the celebrations have been muted.

“Everyone is really chuffed by it,” Kate Acland, the chairperson of Beef and Lamb New Zealand and the New Zealand Meat Board, tells The Detail.

“It has come out of the blue, and like the tariffs came on out of the blue – well, overnight – this is something that has happened very suddenly as well. So, a bit of uncertainty about all these swings backwards and forth. But everyone is really happy. We are taking it. It’s a really positive time in the red meat sector.”

She says the tariffs haven’t been a cheap exercise for the red meat industry, which is a crucial source of our country’s economic growth, supporting rural communities and boosting our export performance.

“Since the tariffs came on in April, there’s been an additional tariff cost of $122 million, and at the 15 percent rate, we were forecasting it would be around a $300 million cost, so that’s really significant, given that previously we were on a tariff of 0.3 percent.”

The benefits of the tariff removal could extend well beyond farmland, orchard gates, and woolsheds. Rural communities that rely on the meat and horticulture sectors could see new investment, job stability, and a boost in confidence, and all before Christmas.

“This is great news for farmers and for the whole red meat industry,” says Acland.

While the unexpected tariff removal has injected fresh energy into the sector, there are some “losers” in both New Zealand and America.

“In general, US consumers are still going to get hit by tariffs because they haven’t all gone away,” Olsen says.

“The likes of the president maybe lose out, ever so slightly, because he’s had to change his view a little bit more but realistically probably not a lot of people are focussing too much attention on that because that focus on the cost of living is so intense.

“Here in New Zealand, it really is an overall win … but the losers in a sense are those who didn’t get the relief, they haven’t seen those changes in tariffs, and they are still having to protest their case.”

He says we are starting to see “parallels here in New Zealand where those pressures on some important goods are in focus”.

“The last couple of months, we have spent a lot of time in New Zealand talking about butter. Mince has now become the new butter. We are talking a lot more about that as a commodity now [that it’s 23 dollars for a kilo].

“That’s not a tariff-direct impact, but the president has, of course, been able to say ‘look, I’m making a difference there and taking off some pressure’. Of course, he added it in the first place.

“But from a consumer point of view, you are getting a bit of relief. From an exporter point of view here in New Zealand, you’ve got some more opportunity and room to manoeuvre and a better competitive environment with other exporters.”

Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here.

You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

A convoy of recreational fishers are planning to drive from across Auckland’s Harbour Bridge on Saturday morning, protesting aspects of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Protection Act and other proposed fishing reforms.

The One Ocean protest began with a post Ben Chissell made on his NZ fishing community Facebook page in October. The Hauraki Gulf Marine Protection Act had just been passed, and frustrated with aspects of it, Chissell called for a demonstration. The idea was met with widespread support, meaning he then had to organise one.

“None of the four of us that are organising this have even been to a protest before. So yeah, it’s a bit of a unique way to jump into your first one,” he said.

Meetings with police and Auckland Transport followed and a route was agreed to, heading from Albany on Auckland’s North Shore, across the harbour bridge, and on to Mission Bay.

“We’ve got people coming from Kaitaia, Ahipara, Tauranga, Whitianga, Waikato, all over the show. We’ve got guys putting their boats on trailers, getting on the ferry from Waiki and Great Barrier and coming over. So it’s going to be a lot bigger than I guess even when we initially hoped.”

Even New Zealand’s best known recreational fisher Matt Watson was backing the protest with an online message of support. Fisheries Minister Shane Jones was less enthusiatic, telling First Up he’s unsure who the organisers of the One Ocean Protest are, but he thinks they’re unhappy with the Hauraki Gulf Marine Protection Act.

“My message to the recreational fishing industry is that their leadership, in particular LegaSea, was originally involved in the establishment of these marine restricted areas, which is impeding recreational fisheries in the Hauraki Gulf. So it’s a bit late for them to cry now, given their own leaders signed up to this policy some years ago.”

LegaSea is a recreational fishing lobby group. Chisell said the One Ocean Protest was a seperate enitity.

One of the issues Chissell and One Ocean were protesting was the decision to allow some commercial fishing in two of the 12 high protection areas in the Hauraki gulf.

Tiff Bock of Seafood NZ said that would have minimal impact on the fishery as it’s limited to 5 ringnetters targetting kahawai and mullet over the winter months.

“It really is small scale. They go to a little bay and they set a net that is less than a metre deep and they circle it around the fish and then they pull it back in by hand. So we’re not talking big areas here.”

Chissell’s position was that if the Hauraki Gulf was so badly depleted that areas needed to be shut off, then no-one should fish them.

“The issue is not the size. The issue is the precedent that they can potentially set for these kind of things going forward, and with what they have done in the past and the promises that have been broken, there is no trust.”

The protestors were also concerned by a Fisheries New Zealand proposal last month to allow marlin bycatch to be sold commercially.

At present, commercial fishers couldn’t target marlin, and any that were accidentally caught must be returned to the water dead or alive.

Tiff Bock said that needed to change.

“It’s really common sense to say, we have cameras, we can verify that they’re only bringing back the ones that they’ve caught that are already dead. Why waste it?”

But recreational fishers were wary. Chissell cites the example of broadbill swordfish. He said when bycatch was approved for sale in 1991, the rate of accidental capture drastically increased.

Broadbill was eventually added to the quota management sytem allowing it to be caught commercially.

“At its peak in the early 2000s, there was 900 tons a year of swordfish being taken from New Zealand waters. This will happen with marlin if they are allowed to add any kind of commercial value to it.”

Jones was due to meet a group of recreational fishers on Sunday to discuss the issue.

“There’s a lot of old wives’ tales being thrown around,” he said. “There’s no intention to introduce marlin into the quota management system.”

Chissell said the protest was not against commercial fishing.

“At the end of the day, I know they want what we want as well. They want the same thing. No one wants to completely strip the ocean of every single fish. We all just have different opinions on how we do that, different values.”

But he’s determined to ensure recreational fishers’ voices were heard in fisheries management, even if it meant more protests.

“Everybody needs to have valuable input and be listened to.That’s the main thing. Because if you don’t, the next one we do is going to be bigger, and then if that doesn’t work, the next one we do is going to be even bigger to the point it starts getting international recognition. We’ll do it if we have to. It’s tiring, but I’ll do it.”

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Warning: This story contains content some may find disturbing.

Convicted killer Nathan Boulter was investigated four years ago over an allegation he raped a 15-year-old girl when he was 14.

He was spoken to while serving time in Otago prison where he denied any wrongdoing, and said the sex between the two was not rape and that the woman was his girlfriend at the time.

Police said after reviewing all the available evidence, the matter did not reach the threshold to prosecute under the Solicitor-General Prosecution Guidelines.

Boulter – who had a long history of stalking and assaulting ex-partners – pleaded guilty last week to murdering a woman in Parklands, Christchurch, on 23 July.

The woman had been in a brief relationship with Boulter. After she ended it, he harassed, stalked and threatened her, making nearly 600 calls in two weeks, before hiding outside her home, then stabbing her 55 times with a hunting knife, as she arrived home with her children.

It can now be revealed a woman went to police in 2021 with allegations that she had been raped and physically assaulted by Boulter while they were at Aparima College in Riverton in 2003.

A police report form detailing the allegations, seen by RNZ, said police investigated two allegations of historical sexual assault and one allegation of physical assault made by the woman.

Do you know more? Email sam.sherwood@rnz.co.nz

The report said Boulter had “numerous convictions” and referred to his “violent offending” making national headlines.

In April 2021, the woman, then aged 32, went to the Hamilton Central Police Station with her partner to report a sexual assault.

During a preliminary interview she alleged she had been raped by Boulter on two occasions and was physically assaulted by him on one occasion.

The alleged attacks occurred over a one-two week period when she was 15 and he was 14.

“[The woman] stated that she had seen something in the media where Boulter’s adult offending was reported on and this has triggered an emotional response from her,” the police report said.

“She thought it was best to now report what happened to her as a young person as the offending had caused ongoing psychological damage.”

The report also said that when talking about the sexual assaults the woman’s position was “she only went along with it as she was fearful, felt coerced and was subject to Boulter’s control and pressure”.

The woman was formally interviewed by police a week later where she detailed the three incidents.

She described feeling “fearful, scared, and terrified” during the first incident.

A week later she alleged Boulter raped her again one night in her home.

“[She] described being in shock and panicking.

“She talked about being 15yrs, underage and not wanting to get into trouble.”

She said Boulter was “laughing, smiling, and smirking”.

“Before leaving, Boulter threatened to kill [the woman’s] father if she said anything.”

The third incident, an allegation of assault with a weapon, occurred when the pair ran away together days later.

The woman told police they spent about two days hitchhiking together, using her money to fund the trip.

While on the main street in Balclutha the pair had an argument and Boulter allegedly presented a knife and pressed it against the woman’s neck. She said she ran off and sought help at the Balclutha Pub where two women helped her.

The woman told police that she “went off the rails” in the years that followed.

Boulter was interviewed by Detective Jason Bishop from the Waikato Child Protection Team at Otago Prison on 24 June, 2021.

Boulter was formally cautioned and provided with legal advice. After speaking to a duty lawyer he declined to provide a statement.

“In response to the allegations Boulter denied any wrongdoing. He informed Detective Jason Bishop that [the woman] was his girlfriend during the period in question.

“Boulter stated that the sex that occurred between the two was not rape and commented on it being his first sexual encounter.”

The police report said that “notably” the woman had earlier described Boulter as being the first person she had sex with.

“She also commented on him being a popular classmate, appreciating him showing interest in her on occasion and talking about school camp where there was some positive interaction involving leg touching.”

The author of the report said it was their “personal belief that the requisite evidence is not present” to meet the Solicitor-General’s prosecution guidelines.

“In my opinion the required minimum standard for a prosecution is not attained and to do so would risk a possible miscarriage of justice.”

In relation to public interest, the author said there was “no doubt” the matter was serious enough that public interest could require a prosecution, but identified several matters to consider. This included where a prosecution was likely to have a “detrimental impact” on the physical or mental health of the victim, and where the defendant was a youth at the time of the alleged offending.

It was recommended the matter should be filed.

The woman told RNZ going to police in 2021 was “one of the hardest things I’ve ever done”.

She was “devastated”, when police told her they would not be laying charges.

“I felt misheard and abandoned. I lost faith in the justice system’s ability to protect victims and prevent repeated harm.”

The woman was referred to mental health services in June 2003 by the principal of Apirima College and a counsellor.

The counsellor’s referral, seen by RNZ, said the woman had been going through a “difficult experience as a result of a break-up with a year 10 boy in her class with whom she had a sexual relationship”.

“It is my impression that [the woman] has been subject to severe emotional and physical pressure from this youth in order to obtain sexual favours since the break-up.”

The woman was “fearful” of the possibility of Boulter returning to school following an extended suspension.

The counsellor noted that the woman’s father told them that he had spoken to the police.

Notes seen by RNZ said she was referred following concerns about her mood, self-esteem and PTSD after “an abusive relationship” with Boulter.

“Nathan has consistently been emotionally + physically abusive including slapping her around, pushing her to the ground at school, frequently stating he would kill himself if she did not comply to his demands.

“[The woman] has also been under pressure to give sex when she would otherwise wouldn’t have.”

The notes from the intake nurse also said Boulter had threatened to kill her, at which point her father contacted police and a protection order was put in place.

The woman said police were notified of her allegations in 2003. However, a privacy act request she made did not find any record of any complaints at the time.

The woman told RNZ Boulter was “controlling, possessive, and violent”.

“I was terrified of him, but I felt trapped because no one seemed to take it seriously.”

She said she heard about Boulter being charged with murder from friends in Riverton.

“My heart sank,” she recalled.

“My reaction was one of grief, disbelief, and anger. It brought everything back. I was heartbroken for the victim and her family in Christchurch and it confirmed my fears that the warning signs were there all along, but no one intervened when they could have.”

She wants to see Boulter “locked up indefinitely”.

“I want people to understand that these patterns of harm don’t happen in isolation. When victims are dismissed or disbelieved, it allows offenders to escalate.

“I hope sharing this encourages better accountability, for schools, police, and communities to act decisively when young people report harm. Because if someone had acted 20 years ago, this story could have had a very different ending.”

Case ‘did not reach the threshold’

Waikato district manager of criminal investigations Detective Inspector Daryl Smith told RNZ police immediately began an investigation in 2021 when the woman came forward.

The investigation included interviewing both parties involved.

“Upon reviewing all the available evidence, the matter did not reach the threshold to prosecute under the Solicitor-General Prosecution Guidelines.”

At this stage, police had no intention to review the matter, Smith said.

“However if any further information comes to light then police will of course assess this and action any appropriate follow up as required.”

Where to get help:

Sexual violence

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

• 1145 reports submitted with 1247 “issues” identified
• Dose issues most common (25.93 percent), followed by quantities, missing details and inappropriate medications
• 26 percent of problems “high risk of harm” to patients
• Pharmacists spent 347 hours in total resolving problems
• Mean resolution time just under 19 minutes

More than one in four prescription errors picked up by pharmacists had a potentially serious risk of harm to patients, an audit has found.

In total, 68 pharmacies in Manawatū and Bay of Plenty took part in the week-long Script Audit – the first exploration of electronic scripts in New Zealand – using a purpose-built reporting app.

Midland Community Pharmacy Group chief executive Pete Chandler – who co-ordinated the audit and built the app for it using AI – said a major driver for the initiative was the tragic death of a two-month old baby in Manawatū earlier this year.

This came on top of long-standing concerns among pharmacists about system-wide clinical risk, he said.

“That was a wake up call for pharmacists around the country to the fact that if they miss something on the script, the consequences can be tragic.”

In Bellamere Duncan’s case it was an error at the pharmacy – but pharmacists say in most cases, they are the ones picking up problems.

During the week-long audit, pharmacists reported 1257 problems in prescriptions sent by GPs, specialists, midwives, dentists and other prescribers.

The most common related to inaccurate drug doses, followed by wrong quantities, missing details or patients prescribed “inappropriate” drugs, which could interfere with other medicines they were taking, for instance.

Most disturbingly, 26 percent of mistakes had a high risk of patient harm, if the pharmacist had not intervened.

The estimated rate of “interventions” varied widely between individual pharmacies, ranging from problems found in fewer than 1 percent of scripts to some identifying problems with 11.25 percent of total prescriptions sent to them.

The report noted the pharmacies with the highest intervention rates were known to the leadership teams of Bay of Plenty Community Pharmacy Group and MidCentral Community Pharmacy Group as “highly competent and thorough in clinical checking”, which suggested it could reflect more robust identification.

“Pharmacists have become the default safeguard against electronic deficiencies and other prescribing issues, yet this safeguard is neither resourced nor acknowledged in current funding or workforce planning. This is happening at a time when pharmacists should be contributing far

more to reducing hospital and primary care pressures.”

Chandler said whenever there was a problem with a script, pharmacists had to contact the prescriber involved and sort it out – and that could take minutes, hours or even days.

“You can see the minutes ticking away into hours while the pharmacist is waiting for a response.”

This could involve trying to track down a junior doctor who had now finished a hospital shift, or getting through to a busy GP.

“Some things are just irritating rather than being unsafe. So if your barcode won’t scan, it’s a pain and it wastes time. If a patient’s details don’t come through on a script, it needs chasing up.

“There are a range of issues that can happen, but this is time that we really need to use for something else.”

Invisible work of pharmacists not funded

A smaller survey of 20 pharmacists by the Pharmaceutical Society earlier this year found 45 percent were making up to five clinical interventions every day and 6 percent were making up to 40.

North Shore pharmacist Michael Hammond, president of the Pharmaceutical Society, said problems with scripts were annoying for everyone involved, including the patient having to wait for it to be sorted out.

“There are supply chain issues as well, so we’re having to have conversations with patients about why something is out of stock and then go to the prescriber and explain they need an alternative, or they can only dispense one month’s supply.

“So there’s a lot of unseen activity by pharmacists that needs to be recognised and funded appropriately.”

While electronic prescribing had fixed the historic problem of illegible handwriting, this audit revealed that technology had spawned a new set of problems.

The report on the audit found training, knowledge of drug changes and the inherent complexity of patient care remained contributing factors.

“However, the scale and pattern of findings indicate that IT system flaws do appear to be responsible for a substantial proportion of script issues increasing the workload and risk for both pharmacists and prescribers.”

Pete Chandler said it was frustrating for everyone involved.

“Often what the GP thinks they’ve asked for is not what the pharmacist sees. And pharmacists are obsessively diligent in their work, they’re very careful people, so they will do what it takes to sort it out.”

GPs also frustrated

The College of General Practitioners medical director, Dr Prabani Wood, said none of the software systems available were completely fit-for-purpose.

“There aren’t really those fail-safe mechanisms in our electronic health systems that stop you from making a crazy error by multiplying the number of tablets you’re asking for by a factor of 10 or 100. That still doesn’t happen.”

While Health NZ was working towards a shared digital health record, it was almost impossible for busy GPs to keep up with which medicines were currently funded by Pharmac or subject to supply problems, she said.

“I did a prescription last week for a person with ADHD and they are on a number of different medications and different doses, a couple of which were available at their normal pharmacy and one that isn’t. So it gets quite tricky.

“The system is not in place to help things run more smoothly. For me, I think having easier communication between general practice and pharmacy would help.”

The report itself concluded that many of the problems reported could be significantly reduced with co-ordinated action and “a willingness to address root causes rather than relying on workarounds”.

Promising micro-improvements were already emerging, including a dedicated text-only line for pharmacy prescription enquiries at one GP practice.

However, systemic improvement would require some national level, some regional level and some local level (i.e. local pharmacy and general practice) quality improvement, including working with IT providers to improve their systems.

“This small snapshot validates the significant concerns pharmacists across Aotearoa have been signalling for years – that script issues are increasing, clinical risk is rising and the system is not responding to make at the pace required.

“Doing nothing is no longer a defensible option.”

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Police Assistant Commissioner Sam Hoyle was the senior staffer who visited Jevon McSkimming along with former Deputy Police Commissioner Tania Kura while he faced charges of possessing child sexual exploitation and bestiality material.

McSkimming pleaded guilty earlier this month.

The former deputy commissioner was arrested on 27 June.

Police Commissioner Richard Chambers earlier confirmed to RNZ Kura and another member of the “wider senior leadership team” visited McSkimming while he faced the charges.

RNZ can now reveal the other staffer was Sam Hoyle who is the Assistant Commissioner chief capability and infrastructure officer.

RNZ understands Kura asked Hoyle to visit McSkimming with her. It’s understood the purpose of the visit was to do a welfare check on McSkimming.

Hoyle was not mentioned in the IPCA’s report released last week.

RNZ asked police if Hoyle had any comment.

Chambers earlier told RNZ he became aware Kura visited McSkimming in July.

“When I found out about that from concerned colleagues, I asked Tania Kura for an explanation and I expressed my disappointment in her,” Chambers said.

“To me it showed a total lack of judgement and very bad decision making. It was inappropriate for an executive member and a statutory deputy commissioner.”

Asked what Kura’s response was, Chambers said “she seemed surprised that I saw it as a problem”.

Chambers said it was for Kura to say why she visited McSkimming.

“However, it was my view there was no reasonable explanation.”

Asked whether it led to Kura’s retirement, Chambers said that was not discussed.

“A short time later, Ms Kura did announce she was retiring from NZ Police.”

RNZ approached Kura for comment on why she visited McSkimming, and whether it had anything to do with her retirement.

RNZ also asked her if she had any response to the IPCA’s report.

She replied, “sorry … not at this point. However for balance you could check how many other people have done the same”.

In response, Chambers said he was aware another member of the “wider senior leadership team” visited McSkimming along with Kura.

“I did speak to that person and expressed my disappointment at the decision making and lack of judgement.

“Mr McSkimming also had regular contact with a member of my leadership team appointed by me as a welfare point of contact, as is the usual process with Police.

“That was in an official capacity and was appropriate. That person did not visit his home and did not meet with him in person after charges had been laid.”

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

New Zealanders are buying home tests for pregnancy, herpes, chlamydia and more that may be no more accurate than flipping a coin.

The tests, which give on-the-spot results, are called invitro devices used at point of care – and include RATS (rapid antigen tests) and urine pregnancy kits.

They had surged in popularity since the Covid pandemic but a paper in the New Zealand Medical Journal Friday said they were largely unregulated.

Last year, over-the-counter RAT tests for chlamydia, gonorrhoea and herpes-2 were “vigourously advertised and sold” in New Zealand.

But, they had not been verified, and overseas evidence on similar kits showed they performed poorly, the paper said.

In 2021, a pregnancy test was withdrawn for showing a high rate of false positives. In 2016, one that had been used professionally gave too many false negatives or inconclusive results.

One of the report authors, pathologist Samarina Musaad, said having inaccurate or inconsistent tests could have serious impacts.

For example, a false negative pregnancy test may mean some people could not make informed choices about their care – or they might have a procedure or medication that was not safe for pregnancy.

A false positive could be very disappointing – or cause a lot of anxiety – depending on people’s situations, she said.

A cabinet paper to former Health Minister Shane Reti last year said there were “low performance devices” available online and from major retailers but there was no public information about the volume being sold.

One test had a false negative rate of between 37 and 88 percent, the cabinet paper said.

“Given many STIs are asymptomatic even while the person is infectious, a false negative result may lead to a person and their sexual partners being falsely reassured that they do not have an infection and may affect their sexual behaviours in a way that increases the risk of transmission,” it said.

Musaad said the examples showed better regulation was needed.

“There are huge concerns from many clinicians that these tests are little more than the flip of a coin,” she said.

Many tests were easily available online at sites like Amazon and Ali Express.

On one hand, it was good for consumers to have choice but they also needed to be able to make an informed decision, Musaad said.

Under the current rules, anyone could bring anything into the country and use it, she said.

Sub-standard tests had sometimes also made their way into health clinics and found to be inaccurate when tested in labs, she said.

At the moment, Pharmac could fund tests for use even when they had not been approved as safe and reliable by Medsafe – something that needed to change, Musaad said.

Regulations minister David Seymour said Medsafe could not approve every product available, particulary if they were from international sellers.

But, Pharmac had its own procedures for assessing which tests would be funded, including expert advice about their suitability, he said.

People should make safe decisions when buying the tests, he said.

“For example, purchasing [point of care tests] from pharmacies is much safer than purchasing them online, because Medsafe can recall unsafe or ineffective products and remove them from shelves,” he said.

There was work underway into an approval process for the tests before they came into the country, he said.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Fire and Emergency (FENZ) is calling on the professional firefighters union to call off strike action planned for Friday.

Paid firefighters will walk off the job for an hour at midday as the two parties continue to negotiate a new collective agreement.

Areas affected by the strike are Auckland, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch, Timaru, Dunedin and Invercargill.

On Tuesday next week, the case was set to be before the Employment Relations Authority for an urgent facilitation meeting.

FENZ Deputy National Commander Megan Stiffler said striking was unwarranted given its meeting to discuss the case at the ERA and that they were continuing pay talks in good faith.

Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) national committee member David Phillips said it’d be prepared to call off the strike if the employer was willing to get around the table with meaningful solutions.

Phillips said that included problems with staffing and equipment.

“Whilst we have met with Fire and Emergency this week in bargaining, being on the bargaining team myself I can tell you it was disappointing … not surprising but disappointing.”

FENZ was offering a 5.1 percent pay increase over three years.

Stiffler said both were far apart in their offers at a meeting this week and that she was disapppointed the strike would go ahead.

Faulty brakes cause late response to Ōtara house fire

The firefighters union said a crew was seven minutes later to a house fire than it should have been because of a faulty handbrake on a truck.

It said the delay getting to the fire in the Auckland suburb of Ōtara on Wednesday morning could have been deadly if people had still been inside the home.

The union said the trip from the station to the scene should have taken just a minute, but instead it took eight because the handbrake on the truck jammed.

Phillips said it was a nightmare situation trying to get the vehicle moving while a house was going up in flames.

He said they were lucky no one was in the home at the time.

“As you can imagine if you are stuck in that house fire and you are waiting eight minutes instead of two minutes that is a long period of time and potentially a fatal period of time.”

He said it was the latest problem in an extensive list of fleet failures that the union had highlighted.

Fire and Emergency said it was hypocritical for the union to criticise an eight minute response when it was compromising public safety with a one hour strike at midday today.

Deputy National Commander Megan Stiffler said the fire broke out at 12.04 in the morning and when the Ōtara crew couldn’t respond because of the brake problem, a crew was sent from Papatoetoe and arrived at 12.12. A second crew from Ōtara arrived at 12.15.

She said fire trucks were large, complicated machines and sometimes they broke down despite regular servicing.

“We acknowledge we have an ageing fleet and that is why we have a fleet replacement programme underway.

“We’ve replaced 317 trucks since Fire and Emergency New Zealand was established in 2017.

“We have 78 more trucks on order, and plan to spend approximately $20m a year for the next five years to continue to replace our older appliances,” she said.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand