A health system under strain

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Just as the ball seems to follow a fielder in a cricket match, the political spotlight followed Labour Cabinet Minister Andrew Little last week and the focus was not always welcome.

Little's main portfolio of health was in the news during a week in which nurses from most of the city's general practices struck for the first time, protesting in Heipipi Park.

The release of the Government's first national health plan immediately faced criticism from the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, whose executive director Sarah Dalton said it was more a vision and aspiration than a plan which reflected the gritty reality.

Many of the country's hospitals were not safe for staff due to the workloads, hours of work and the violence doctors and nurses faced in the course of their work, she said.

The system was not performing properly and patients struggled to get GP appointments and access to other diagnostic services, she added.

That reaction would be galling for Little and Labour. The Government is investing $13.2 billion in its newly centralised health system. Both Little and acting prime minister Grant Robertson tried to lay the blame on the previous government, with Little saying they inherited a system that had buildings with literally shit running down the walls.

National leader Christopher Luxon responded that the Government had had five years to fix the system. Health along with the cost of living will be major attack points for National in the coming election campaign.

Little's other main focus of the week was to make a formal apology to Ngati Maru and return 4000 hectares of land to them including Parihaka, the site of what many consider the worst injustice of the Land Wars.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern missed all this having spent time in Antarctica, which was extended when her Hercules broke down and an Italian plane was needed to bring her home.

Two disasters dominated the world scene, the loss of more than 150 lives as people panicked at a Halloween event in Seoul, and the death of about 100 in car bombings in the Somali capital of Mogadishu. In more bad news, Russia halted grain exports from Ukraine.

The week ended on a sad note with the death of Jerry Lee Lewis, one of the stars of the golden age of Rock 'n' Roll. Lewis famously illegally married his 13-year-old cousin during a colourful life which saw him finally marry seven times.