Interactions between parents and healthcare providers could have a big impact on the wellbeing of our children, according to new research. The way parents and healthcare providers interact has lasting implications for children’s health, new research has found – and that includes immunisation uptake. Released today, the report is based on research by AUT’s NZ … Read more
What’s it like to have your life governed by your gut? It’s crap, frankly. On my birthday last year I was given a bottle of fancy Aesop post-poo drops which clear the air after rigorous bowel activity – though on reflection, it may have been more of a gift for my flatmates. I’m not offended, … Read more
It’s time for New Zealand to face up to the hard truths of how our health system is leaving people behind, writes paediatrician Jin Russell. In an almost apocryphal account, my mother often tells the story of how once in the 1970s, after great rains, parts of Christchurch flooded. Their home, although mercifully elevated above … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Swag of briefings to incoming ministers released, government outlines summer Covid resurgence plan, and Port Hills fire comes amid scorching week. A whole lot of papers around the end of one term of government and the start of the next have been released. The briefings to … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Early focus put on health select committee, international day for persons with disabilities marked, and appliance delays holding up new builds. The select committees are in the process of being selected. One of the processes of making a law is that it goes through a small group … Read more
New technology could transform the lives of thousands of New Zealanders with type 1 diabetes, but the lack of government funding leaves much to be desired, writes Nicholas Agar. I’m a type 1 diabetic writing this with a sense of excitement about a breakthrough in the treatment of my disease. When I was diagnosed in … Read more
Soon after the proposed cannabis bill failed to gain majority support at referendum here, several conservative US states voted to legalise cannabis and decriminalise other drugs. So why is our supposedly progressive nation afraid of drug law reform? Americans may have been divided on a preferred president, but they were far more united in their … Read more
New Zealand is one of the only developed countries still battling rheumatic fever. Now Cure Kids is giving its largest ever amount of funding to six studies into the childhood illness. Former Auckland Blues player Matt Johnson apologised for the loud tick coming from his chest as he stood up to tell his story of … Read more
Decisions around associate health delegations are critical, writes Shane Te Pou. If yesterday offered a moment to celebrate a historic series of cabinet appointments for Māori, today the euphoria needs to be put aside. It’s time to get on with the mahi. Nowhere is this more pressing than health. The new Labour government’s health team … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Who’s up and who’s down in Ardern’s new cabinet, new Covid-19 community case in Christchurch, and Ngāi Tahu taking Crown to court over freshwater. Throw out all those articles you read predicting who would get what ministerial jobs – they were pretty much all wrong … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Unaffordable dental care in the spotlight, update on the two crops of Covid cases, and Billy TK quits Advance NZ alliance. One of the weeping sores of the health system is the high cost of dental care, and the health effects that flow from that. It’s … Read more
In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic prompted New Zealand and much of the world to undertake something few of us had ever contemplated: a near-total lockdown of society. In this Lockdown legacies series, James Dann explores the impacts of those extraordinary measures, intended and otherwise. Today: From traffic accidents and seasonal flu to heart disease, the … Read more
From damp housing to unsafe work, doctors see every day the conditions worsening the health of thousands of New Zealanders. Dr George Laking of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians explains the four things we can do make a change for the better. Physicians are specialist doctors who look after people with medical illnesses. We … Read more
Counties Manukau DHB, home to Middlemore Hospital, may have missed out on $300 million in funding over the last decade, according to documents released to The Spinoff. This article has been updated to include a response from Statistics New Zealand. “It’s like a resort, compared to Middlemore.” This isn’t a review on Trivago. Rather it’s a … Read more
Will I get fined? Can I use a scarf? And what about on the school bus? All your questions about face masks on public transport, answered here. When and where do I have to wear a mask exactly? From Monday, all New Zealanders will be required to wear a face mask on public transport for … Read more
Young, healthy and pregnant, Talia Cooper’s world was flipped on its head when she discovered a lump on her breast. She spoke to Fiona Rae about becoming a mum and going through cancer treatment at the same time. If there’s one message that Talia Cooper has for young women it’s this: know what’s normal for … Read more
Beleaguered Labour MP David Clark resigned as health minister during a press conference at parliament this morning. Alex Braae reports. With just 78 days to go before the 2020 election, health minister David Clark has resigned from the position of health minister. He will also be resigning from all of his cabinet roles. At a … Read more
The Simpson report into the health and disability sector has finally been released, proposing major changes to the way the health system is organised and governed. Alex Braae reports on the most important bits. What’s all this then? About two years ago, Heather Simpson was tasked with leading a massive review into the health and … Read more
Every time celebrity chef Pete Evans talks about his ‘wellness’ beliefs, scientists and doctors line up to counter them with peer-reviewed research and established facts. That’s because Evans’ ‘common sense’ sounds a lot like utter nonsense, writes Dr Siouxsie Wiles. This article was first published in April 2017. Author’s note: It is unfortunate that the … Read more
In the fifth part of a new series that shares the stories of families learning from home during lockdown, Emily Writes puts faith in her community as her son returns to school. He knew school would be opening the following week and we’re not quite sure how. Maybe the excitement and anxiety of the neighbourhood’s … Read more
In alert level two, a slew of hospital and GP services become available again. That presents a challenge to get back to normal, and ‘normal’ should not be what we are seeking in any case, write Richard Hamblin and Carl Shuker of the Health Quality & Safety Commission. Surgeries have been halted. Hip and knee … Read more
Ahead of the NZ debut of Eat Well For Less, literal first-time cook Sam Brooks gives a few of his own (barely tested) tips for how to eat well for less. We all spend too much on food. I know I do. Back in the golden age of “restaurants” and “eateries”, I would be found … Read more
Covid-19 has made us aware of society’s most vulnerable. Let’s make ‘being kind’ to them more than a blip on the radar, writes Alzheimers NZ chief executive Catherine Hall. If the Covid-19 crisis has any upside it’s the fact that, for the first time in decades, the plight of New Zealand’s older people is receiving … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Health minister David Clark suffers major demotion, government launches mental health tools, and more outline given on decision to leave lockdown. In breaking news, health minister David Clark has been severely demoted by the Prime Minister. Last week, a story came out about him driving to … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Queenstown nurse tests positive for Covid-19, more detail emerges on case clusters, and NZers in Australia score moderate victory. A Queenstown nurse has tested positive for Covid-19, bringing to light wider fears of health workers. The Otago Daily Times reports the nurse worked at the Lakes District Hospital, where … Read more
Nurses are the first people you’ll meet if you think you have Covid-19. Here, one of our frontline workers describes the rapid changes both healthcare workers and the public are facing. As told to Josie Adams. I was working at an urgent care clinic in East Auckland when the first reports of Covid-19 came out … Read more
Medical centres around the country have been instructed to reduce the number of in-person consultations they conduct by 70%. Toby Hills, a doctor based in Porirua, explains the rationale behind this and what the public can do to support our primary care system. Even during a pandemic, humans still get sick for other reasons. Appendixes … Read more
Our health system is broken. It has betrayed its community rather than served it. And the solution lies with the voices of patients, writes Glenn Colquhoun, a New Zealand poet and doctor based on the Kāpiti coast. When Māui first hauled up the North Island of New Zealand it was smooth. His brothers sat beside … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Morris Pita from EmergencyQ. You might be unlucky enough to have experienced sitting with a kid at an … Read more