Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: Radio New Zealand

The track to the country’s deepest natural sinkhole at the top of the South Island has been permanently closed because of safety concerns.

Harwoods Hole, which is a nearly 180-metre deep vertical shaft, is part of a cave system in the Abel Tasman National Park.

Department of Conservation (DOC) Golden Bay operations manager Ross Trotter said the track from Canaan Downs car park to the hole was closed last month.

“There isn’t a viewing platform there, you can’t actually see down the hole so it’s not really an attraction that we want to lead people to because we can’t guarantee their safety,” he said.

Trotter said the risks in the area had not changed but DOC had reassessed the safety of the track and found the level of risk was unacceptable.

While there were no recorded fatalities involving walker, there were reports of people slipping on the rocks and a fall into the hole could be fatal, he said.

“Being such a deep vertical shaft, that’s the concern, if someone does slip, it would be a fatality,” he said.

Trotter said DOC remained open to reassessing safer access in the future but a viewing platform in was not a viable option.

The decision to permanently close the track was made on 20 February. It would no longer be maintained, with vegetation cleared, as it had been in the past.

Harwoods Hole and Starlight Cave that lies beneath it are popular with experienced cavers.

In 2017, a 25-year-old Canadian woman fell while abseiling near the bottom of the hole. She was rescued by a specialist caving team.

Trotter said people were still able to access the track, at their own risk, and there remained public access to the nearby Canaan Downs Scenic Reserve and campsite and the Canaan Big Loop, Gold Creek Loop and Rameka tracks.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Health New Zealand has removed controversial recommendations that people suffering from a rare connective tissue disorder not be given certain treatments.

It follows criticism from patients and advocacy groups.

The new guidance on Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS) and hypermobility spectrum disorder (HSD), published last week after what the agency described as a review of current evidence, said interventions including intravenous fluids, opioid pain relief, artificial feeding and vascular abdominal surgery were not recommended for people with EDS.

As reported earlier on Monday, patients and advocates were alarmed and angered the statements were misleading and potentially dangerous, saying some of the listed treatments are used in complex cases to manage life-threatening complications.

A Health New Zealand spokesperson confirmed the “not recommended treatments” section had been removed the guidance on its website.

“Health NZ is reviewing some of the website material, including the section you’ve referred to which has been taken down, pending review,” it said in a statement to RNZ.

Every Health NZ patient facing webpage included this disclaimer, it said.

Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes Aotearoa New Zealand (EDSANZ) chief executive Kelly McQuinlan earlier said: “It’s quite alarming that our own [health] agency can’t even provide the correct information.

“We’re already struggling to get the care that we need and this is incredibly damaging.”

McQuinlan told RNZ she was surprised to hear some of the information had been retracted, saying she had heard nothing from HNZ.

“I feel like what they have done is put a bandage to a much bigger problem. We still recommend these pages are temporarily removed until proper consultation has been carried out.”

EDSANZ has today written to HNZ asking for an urgent meeting to discuss the matter. It had been aware of the work being undertaken but HNZ had not responded to repeated requests for EDSANZ to be involved, she said.

It had also alerted the Health Quality and Safety Commission to the issue, she said.

RNZ is aware of at least two complaints made to the Health and Disability Commissioner over the information.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

An inquest into the death of an Invercargill Prison inmate has heard guards did not take concerns about his mental health seriously.

Nukuroa Strange, 30, died in August 2022.

Coroner Amelia Steel was considering whether Strange received adequate mental health support while in the custody of the Department of Corrections in the four months before he died.

The inquest would consider his risk assessments, management and treatment, including whether appropriate action was taken in the knowledge he had previously tried to hurt himself.

Corrections staff members have told the inquest on Monday that Strange had a lot of support from them and also had family support in prison.

In a statement read to the court, Strange’s former partner Chloe Salter said she called the prison and spoke to a Corrections officer, saying they needed keep a close eye on Strange because she was worried prison was “getting to him”.

They had been together for about two months and lived together before Strange was jailed.

She said Strange had been smoking a lot of methamphetamine and she later realised he was committing crimes to pay for it.

He was furious that he was back in prison as they had dreams they wanted to achieve together and his mental health went downhill but Corrections staff tried to help him by putting him on anti-anxiety medication, she said.

They spoke over the phone multiple times a day while he was in prison.

She said Strange had tried to hurt himself in prison and had promised that he would not do so again.

During the call to the Corrections officer, she said she was upset that she was not contacted after he tried to hurt himself.

He assaulted a guard and was move to an intensive supervision unit.

Salter said they had made a mutual decision to separate a few days before he died, and while the relationship ended on good terms, there were a lot of tears.

He called her twice on the day he died, the first time in anger and the second to tell her he loved her.

Within a few hours she was told that Strange was dead.

Fellow prisoner Peter Herrick said Strange needed help and was not given the right support at the unit.

He did not believe staff were empathetic or properly trained and questioned why Strange was back in the unit so soon after attempting to harm himself and an admission to the intervention and support unit.

Herrick said he thought Corrections treated prisoners like a nuisance.

On the day he died, Herrick noticed Strange was visibly upset while on the phone.

He told a Corrections worker that he was concerned about the man and she went to talk to him.

Later that day, Herrick said an officer conducting a muster took off running when he heard something over the radio, he saw emergency services and was later told Strange had died.

Strange was not given the help he needed at the support unit and he did not know why the man was back there so soon after attempting to harm himself, Herrick said.

In a statement, on-duty Corrections staff member Pamela Craig said Strange was normal and well-behaved the day before his death, saying all the right things at the right time.

They had talked about his children, his love for his ex-partner and how he wanted to be the person she fell in love with, Craig said.

She said she did not see anything out of the ordinary while he was on the phone but kept a close eye on him because he had previously made multiple attempts to self-harm.

When a prisoner told her he thought Strange was in trouble, she and another Corrections staff member ran to his cell and tried to revive him.

Craig said Herrick did not tell her that Strange had been crying on the phone until after he was found in his cell.

Principal Corrections officer at the time Chris Ballantyne told the inquest that Strange appeared to be struggling with being in prison, more so than in his earlier time in jail.

He had known Strange for a number of years and believed they had a good working relationship.

Ballantyne was involved in deciding if Strange should leave the intervention and support unit and return to his regular unit shortly before he died.

Ballantyne said he interviewed Strange before the move, and he found him to be future-focused and talked about using his son as motivation to stay out of jail.

He said he felt comfortable Strange could leave the unit and was recorded as no risk following the interview, which was based on the assessment and in consultation with the medical team.

If he had shown signs of considering self-harm, Ballantyne said he would not have agreed to transfer him out of the support unit.

Ballantyne would continue giving his evidence on Tuesday.

Corrections staff member Adam Lilley said he had tried to do a risk assessment for Strange but he did not respond to any questions.

He had called in a control and restraint team to take him to the intensive supervision unit and Strange had fought back, he said.

Lilley said staff had tried to help him when they found him on the day he died.

Coroner Steel said her role was not about finding liability, rather accountability.

She would also consider possible recommendations to improve the department’s risk assessment tools or well-being policies.

The inquest is set down for five days in Invercargill.

Where to get help:

• Need to Talk? Free call or text 1737 any time to speak to a trained counsellor, for any reason
• Lifeline: 0800 543 354 or text HELP to 4357
• Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 / 0508 TAUTOKO. This is a service for people who may be thinking about suicide, or those who are concerned about family or friends
• Depression Helpline: 0800 111 757 or text 4202
• Samaritans: 0800 726 666
• Youthline: 0800 376 633 or text 234 or email talk@youthline.co.nz
• What’s Up: 0800 WHATSUP / 0800 9428 787. This is free counselling for 5 to 19-year-olds
• Asian Family Services: 0800 862 342 or text 832. Languages spoken: Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Hindi, and English.
• Rural Support Trust Helpline: 0800 787 254
• Healthline: 0800 611 116
• Rainbow Youth: (09) 376 4155
• OUTLine: 0800 688 5463
• Aoake te Rā bereaved by suicide service: or call 0800 000 053

If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is taking questions from reporters in his weekly post-Cabinet media conference.

It comes as US President Donald Trump warns the deadly US-Israeli conflict with Iran could last for four weeks.

Luxon has refused to be drawn on whether the coalition fully supports the strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran.

He told Morning Report the Iranian regime was an evil one and had been a destabilising force in the Middle East.

Pressed on whether the strikes are legal or morally right, Luxon said it will be up to the US and Israel to present their case.

Former prime minister Helen Clark has criticised the government’s response, saying it’s clear the strikes have violated international law.

New Zealand officials said advice has been sent directly to New Zealanders registered as being in ten Middle East countries, telling them to shelter in place and leave when it is safe and possible to do so.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was closely co-ordinating with consular teams in a number of countries, including on contingency plans, though airspace remains closed in many countries while attacks continue.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Aged Care Association says the sector needs better funding to be able to compete with the public sector for nurses.

It comes after public and mental health nurses employed by Health New Zealand ratified their new collective agreements over the weekend, after 18 months of bargaining.

Chief executive Tracey Martin said nurses in aged care, who were not Te Whatu Ora employees, needed to be better paid in order to compete with the public sector – and to do that, the sector needed more funding.

“The nurses inside aged residential care have the same qualifications, they do the same if not more complex work, and yet they don’t receive the same remuneration because the funding model from government actually doesn’t fund equity of pay across those nurse workforces.”

An ageing population was set to put more pressure on the health system as a whole, Martin said, so aged care needed to be able to attract and retain skilled workers.

“As long as it is treated as a secondary career option, compared to going and working in hospitals for Health New Zealand, then we’re going to struggle to make sure that we have the workforce required to deliver the services and the care that the predicted number of New Zealanders are going to need over the next 25 to 50 years,” she said.

At the moment, while rural and regional areas were harder to staff, the aged care sector was doing okay, because Te Whatu Ora had not been hiring in the same volumes due to its own cost pressures.

But Martin said 70 percent of the aged care workforce was from overseas, which showed New Zealanders were not choosing jobs in aged care.

“The moment Te Whatu Ora starts hiring, because of the funding model residential care is working with, many nurses [will] then go to work in hospitals.”

Martin said the government, as the primary funder of aged residential care services, needed to increase funding – and not just for wages.

“Many providers are currently operating below the true cost of care,” she said.

“When a general uplift is fully prescribed to wages, it leaves no capacity to address rising food, utilities, insurance, compliance and capital costs. That places ongoing pressure on service sustainability.”

In October, a ministerial advisory group was announced to make recommendations updating the system, including a look at the funding model.

The government was spending $2.5 billion a year on aged care, which was provided privately, to accommodate the 900,000 New Zealanders over 65. That number is expected to increase to 1.3 million by 2040.

The advisory group was expected to report back by the middle of 2026, with any changes to the funding model implemented in 2027.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Publicly-funded x-rays and ultrasounds are now offered in Wānaka, the government has announced.

The lack of local diagnostic testing was a key concern raised by residents at a Rural Health Roadshow last year.

The change was expected to lead to about 1400 x-rays and 1500 ultrasounds over the next 18 months.

Associate Health Minister Matt Doocey said people had made it clear that access to diagnostic tests was a major barrier to good healthcare.

“People living in Central Otago deserve timely, quality healthcare close to home. Changes like this reduce unnecessary travel and ensure patients can access reliable services in their own community,” he said.

Health Action Wānaka, which has been advocating for more equitable healthcare, described the change as an “amazing” step forward.

Chairperson Monique Mayze said people previously had to drive for at least an hour to Dunstan Hospital in Clyde if they did not want to pay.

“This has meant people obviously have to find childcare, take time off work, spend more money just getting somewhere to access something that should be free,” she said.

“We’ve been advocating for this change for some time, since we met the minister in July last year.”

She said the group would like to see CAT scans and MRI scans available in Wānaka too, rather than people having to travel to Dunedin.

The government has been working on ways to overhaul the area’s health services and address long-standing inequities.

In November, officials estimated that shifting appointments out of major hospitals and into communities could spare Central Otago and Queenstown Lakes residents as many as 40,000 road trips per year.

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