Your stories and suggestions
Health Reform
Join us in reshaping New Zealand's healthcare system for the better.
Please lobby for a health system that is not privatized. Privatization removes funding from the public system and has been proven to not work in the long run as it starves the public system of funding (see the UK). Health is a basic need. - Cindy
My observations for what they are worth is that while what we do “ at the coal face” is incredibly valuable and can make some difference, the main determining factor for the wellbeing of communities is income inequality which is inextricably linked with Government Policies. - Helen
Thank you for raising awareness of the plight of NZ’s health system. We need a much greater focus on primary health care. Incentives for healthier eating and lifestyles. Sugar taxes on unhealthy food and drink. Financial incentives to keep medical graduates in NZ and in general practice. -Simon
Maybe we need to fund nurse training , maybe we need to fund doctor training , maybe ensure they are rewarded for their care. I am now old and my wife passed away about 1 year ago. Throughout our lives we have always received caring treatment , empathy and help and I just believe we are so so lucky with our doctors and nurses Let's go back to basics , to a time when they were a respected and special part of our community , empower them to make the decisions , reward them well and help them with their training and continued development Shed the management structures and spend money at the people who look after us !! -David
My view is we need to reform the health system along the lines of the ACC model. People have gripes with ACC but mostly because we take it for granted and forget about its enormous benefits. No-one grizzles about the cost of ACC because the levies collect a bit here and a bit there. We all pay for it and mostly don't notice. I see no reason why the ACC model should only apply to accidents. Why not extend it to a whole of health model? -Kate
It is perhaps beyond even Solomon's wisdom to decide where healthcare $ should be spent or denied, but we do need to have a system that is proactive, cost-effective, compassionate and not so time and $ wasting. And funding independent of politics, keeping up with inflation and population growth. - Cheri
Support learning about the building blocks to health. Fund primary health care. Ensure phone services for mental health care can call back their clients. - Madeleine
I work in Christchurch womens' prison as a nurse..Our wahine we care for have a lot of health needs and we don't have enough nurses to provide what they need. On weekends we often have one nurse for 180 wahine. Our muster is climbing to 250 by march but we are only getting one more RN. - Judith
(Advanced care directives) should form the basis of discussions for old folk, for their families and for the whole NZ community...it is respecting our wishes about how we live out the end of our lives. Helping us avoid the prolonged care trap would only benefit us and the entire health system. -Jiff
I am a retired nurse, having had a 45-year nursing career mostly in community-based healthcare, where I believe the emphasis should be. For the people, by and with the people. Sadly, I have witnessed a huge deterioration of healthcare in Aotearoa. I think this is largely due to politicization of the health system and inequities created by poor social policies made by successive governments, for decades now. There has been a steady drift away from the basic determinants of health. I agree we need to build on health from the ground up, i.e. access to good food, housing, education, employment, social connections and accessible primary health care. All of these things can be provided in the community, if only the decision makers and funders were willing. Healthy families make healthy communities, which make for a healthy nation! -Yvette