Health NZ fails to deliver in the South

Despite much fanfare, and a $486 million spend from the Government, Health NZ has yet to deliver any real results for Southland.

As part of the restructure, the Southern District Health Board was disestablished on July 1 and our local voice, and much of the scrutiny of our health services, was lost.

Meanwhile waiting times at Southland’s Emergency Department continue to skyrocket and there’s been a 450 percent increase in reports of health and safety issues at local rest homes, because of the registered nurse shortage.

The Government’s new work visa has failed to fire, with only 24 offshore nurses applying in the past two months – despite the country being short of over 4000 and surgical waiting lists have blown out to the worst they’ve been in a decade, with around 24,000 people across the country waiting for operations.

These figures reflect a health crisis like we’ve never seen before. Yet the Government’s response has been muted, while the silence from Health NZ, now eight weeks into operation, has been deafening.

Health Minister Andrew Little was recently asked by media if he had confidence that Health NZ could turn our health crisis around – his curt reply: “well it’s their job to do that.”

This astonishing response reflects a minister who is ready to pass the buck on a health crisis that continues to worsen.

The health reforms have so far improved nothing here in Southland, with the Government’s multi-million dollar restructuring spend- up looking increasingly like another white elephant.