Letters to the editor: More money does not mean more services

"Who cannot feel empathy for someone who requires essential surgery but has been waiting for more than three years?" asks a reader. Photo / NZME

OPINION:

The Labour Government has, since elected in 2017, increased the health spending budget by billions of dollars.

Additional spending on building hospitals and increased hospital services are what Kiwis want, but the article (News, November 5) advising that elective surgery waiting lists have increased from 12 to 1940 in the past five years, in my view, shows that additional money does not necessarily result in increased services.

This waiting-list rise shows to me that this Government can spend money but New Zealanders are missing out on essential health services.

Who cannot feel empathy for someone who requires essential surgery but has been waiting for more than three years? Meanwhile, the person's quality of life deteriorates and, worse still, the required hip replacement surgery has still not been scheduled.

I want a Government that delivers things that benefit Kiwis.

Mike Baker
Bethlehem

Source remorse

I'd like to point out that your article on the cyclist saying they were abused for using te reo Māori (BOP Times, October 29, p3) did not mention that in March 2021, the New Zealand Broadcasting Standards Authority (NZBSA) indicated that it would no longer hear complaints about the use of te reo Māori in media.
I think that it was a little misleading that the Bay of Plenty Times failed to mention this, mentioning only that NZBSA was considering two complaints of this nature from data in 2021.
I think that going back to primary sources to provide up-to-date information is an important media reporting requirement.

John McGovern
Tauranga

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