News
Health support group calls for better government oversight of Long Covid effects
3+ hour, 41+ min ago (547+ words) The government should be keeping tabs on the lingering and "deeply concerning" effects of Long Covid around the country, a health support group says. Newly released data by the Ministry of Health estimated 185,000 New Zealanders experienced Long Covid symptoms in…...
Should teachers give children lollies and chocolates for good behaviour?
3+ hour, 13+ min ago (692+ words) Should teachers give children lollies and chocolates for good behaviour? Some do even though Health Ministry guidelines say schools should not serve sweets or chocolate at all. A teacher RNZ agreed not to name said rewarding children with sweets was…...
How going blind helped highlight a gap in Pacific eye health
20+ hour, 31+ min ago (141+ words) A keen sportsperson Esmeralda Lo Tam, like most young people, dreamed of one day wearing the black kit - whether as a Black Fern'on Eden Park or a Silver Fern on the netball court. But a persistent irritation in her left…...
Government announces extra $25 million funding to boost hospital capacity and staff
1+ day, 1+ hour ago (601+ words) The government has announced that hospitals will get hundreds more staff and extra beds as the health system prepares for winter pressure. Health Minister Simeon Brown said Health New Zealand would invest an extra $25 million to boost hospital capacity and…...
New health funding for winter a drop in the bucket - unions
14+ hour, 34+ min ago (741+ words) Millions in new government funding to meet winter demand is a drop in the bucket, healthcare unions say. The $25 million funding will see 378 full-time staff and 71 beds added to hospitals ahead of the colder months, which the government says will…...
2500 Te Whatu Ora PAKS staff ratify new collective agreement, PSA says
1+ day, 3+ hour ago (181+ words) The Public Service Association (PSA) says a group of 2500 Te Whatu Ora staff it represents have ratified a new collective agreement. The PSA said its members working in policy, advisory, knowledge and services - known as PAKS - voted overhelmingly in favour…...
Rising cost of getting to cancer treatment: 'It's already hard times and this is going to make it a lot harder"
13+ hour, 37+ min ago (615+ words) Cancer comes with a high price at the best of times, but it is getting more costly for hundreds of patients as fuel prices rise. Many people with cancer are forced to drive hundreds of kilometres to main centres for…...
Emergency doctors estimate AI scribe 'Heidi' saving up to 10 minutes per patient
1+ day, 27+ min ago (1380+ words) Doctors say the new AI scribe rolling out in EDs around the country is saving them up to 10 minutes per patient, and is particularly helpful for slow typers. The tool, known as Heidi, was trialled in Hawke's Bay Hospital's ED,…...
Calls for wider access to free meningitis vaccine for teens
22+ hour, 54+ min ago (129+ words) The father of a teenager who died suddenly from meningitis says the Government needs to urgently act and provide free vaccine against meningococcal disease to all students in Year 11 before they leave school. Gerard Rushton's 16-year-old daughter Courtenay Rushton died…...
Papers show 'extreme risk' around Health NZ decentralisation
22+ hour, 23+ min ago (1407+ words) Papers show that Health New Zealand faces the "extreme risk" of not having enough of the workers it needs to push through the government's order to decentralise rapidly. Health Minister Simeon Brown last November ordered the agency to "rapidly devolve…...