Are Christopher Luxon (left) and Chris Hipkins both stuck sitting on the fence? Images / Getty Images
We shouldn’t compromise on hospital care standards
The proposal to allow 24/7 family access to hospital patients (Sept 15) may sound compassionate, but in reality it risks undermining the very environment hospitals need to function.
Hospitals are not lounges or marae, they run on precision and routine. Patients require rest, order, and professional care above all else. Introducing unrestricted access at all hours threatens that balance. Boundaries matter. Remove them and hospitals risk chaos.
At night especially, wards should be quiet places of recovery, not disrupted by the comings and goings of visitors. Sadly, experience tells us that “family” is not always the calm and supportive presence policymakers imagine. One patient’s right to visitors must not override another’s right to peace and rest.
Most critically, this policy ignores the fundamental reality of infection control. Hospitals are sterile environments housing the most vulnerable members of our community, patients sometimes with compromised immune systems, open surgical wounds, and serious infections. Medical staff undergo rigorous training in hygiene protocols, use protective equipment correctly, and follow strict contamination prevention measures. Family members, however well-meaning, may not.
Twenty-four-hour access means a constant stream of untrained visitors bringing community pathogens into controlled medical environments. That creates the risk of cross-contamination between wards. Healthcare-associated infections, already a serious concern, could multiply when infection control protocols are compromised by unrestricted civilian access. What appears as loving family support could become a deadly vector for dangerous infections among our most vulnerable patients.
This policy seems less about compassion and more about covering staff shortages, and it risks turning hospitals into infection hotspots in the process.
James Gregory, Parnell.
Restrict visiting hours
I am horrified to read that hospitals are to allow 24/7 access for family visitors.
The constant stream of family visitors to my ward when I was in North Shore Hospital for two weeks was a major obstacle to my recovery.
One visitor to a patient in my ward stayed 12 hours every day and talked nonstop. Another patient had the whole whānau at her bedside for hours, bringing in food and noisy children.
When a person is seriously ill they need peace and quiet to enable quality rest. Bring back restricted visiting hours and restrict the number of visitors at any one time. Surely the patient’s recovery is of paramount importance.
Karen Letica, Snells Beach.
What free speech?
It’s a misnomer to use the term “free speech” in reference to America. There is nothing free about it, and no matter which side of the political divide you sit on, there will be a price to be paid. In Charlie Kirk’s case, the ultimate price.
Across America, the suppression of free speech manifests itself in the expulsion of foreign students for speaking their truth about the war in Gaza, to the President’s efforts to “sanitise” US history in museums and libraries to align with his rhetoric.
The sad irony of the most powerful country in the world is they no longer need to fear outside enemies. America is slowly devouring itself from within, with a political divide that has become a chasm and out-of-control gun violence.
This is not my father’s America, who, as a son of immigrants, was sent to university under the GI Bill after service in World War II. That dream is a distant memory.
Mary Hearn, Glendowie.
Understanding history
I read with a great deal of interest Audrey Young’s opinion piece on the debate within the Government on the question of the recognition of the state of Palestine (Sept 16).
I suggest for a better understanding of the Israel/Palestine conflict that people read The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by the Israeli historian, Professor Ilan Pappe, which details the campaign to drive Palestinians out of their homeland as part of the project to establish a Jewish state, which became Israel.
Palestinian villages were destroyed so the inhabitants could not return. An estimated 750,000 Palestinians became refugees, thus creating a huge humanitarian problem that has never been resolved.
A proper understanding of the history of this conflict is necessary to accurately understand what is happening today.
Graham Wright, Nelson.
The crowded fence
It’s been said recently that Labour leader Chris Hipkins is sitting on the fence regarding policy and other decisions, and he is.
However, Prime Minister Christopher Luxton is sitting right alongside him with his indecision over the Middle East conflict, refusal to rein in his coalition partners with their impractical agendas, and his continued wishy-washiness.
Whatever the outcome of the next election, the current fence-sitting does not bode well for a decisive, progressive, and enlightened future.
Ian Doube, Rotorua.
Fossil-fuel fears
While farmers and drivers of fossil-fueled cars are being urged to curb their emissions, the Prime Minister has just announced a programme to encourage even more tourists to fly to New Zealand in fossil-fueled aeroplanes.
Duh?
Martin Adlington, Browns Bay.