Latest news with #LowerHutt
RNZ News
10-06-2025
- RNZ News
Stolen car driven towards police before hitting school bus
Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER A stolen car has collided with a school bus in Lower Hutt on Wednesday morning after evading road spikes set up by police. Police said they received reports of a stolen vehicle being driven erratically in the Eastbourne area, heading towards Lower Hutt, at about 8.30am. "Police deployed and set up spikes in an attempt to stop the vehicle." A spokesperson said the driver then swerved towards officers standing on the street, avoiding the spikes, before colliding with a school bus which continued on. "No injuries were reported and police will be following up with the bus driver." Police said they have since recovered the stolen vehicle in Lower Hutt. It will undergo a forensic examination. However, the offenders fled on foot.
RNZ News
08-06-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
Hospice funding crisis: Collapse of services could cost taxpayers millions
Hospice services are only available to one in three New Zealanders who are dying. File photo. Photo: 123RF Hospices are warning that critical services for the dying are under threat, with nothing for palliative care providers in the Budget. Hospice NZ says government funding only covers about half of what it costs to run New Zealand's 28 publicly funded hospices, but if services collapse, it will end up costing taxpayers millions of dollars more. Jen Nolan, whose younger brother Matt died at Te Omanga Hospice in Lower Hutt in 2019, said she dreaded to think how those final days would have gone without that "incredible, wrap-around care". The weeks following Matt Nolan's diagnosis with stage four melanoma were brutal: brain surgery, radiation, immunotherapy - nothing worked. It was a devastating blow when doctors said there was nothing more they could do - but Matt Nolan's admission to Te Omanga offered a different kind of healing. "When we walked in, I turned to one of my sisters and said 'God, it's like we've left Hell and we're in Heaven's waiting room'." Her brother's seizures and complex pain needs made it impossible for him to be at home, but Te Omanga became their home. "We could come and we could bring our dogs, he had a lovely room that opened out to the garden. His friends could come. "I walked in one day, and there he was, fast asleep, with two of his buddies also asleep in chairs. They were having a little nap together." Matt Nolan died in July 2019, three months after diagnosis. He had just turned 49. Six years on, Jen Nolan said it was heartbreaking that hospice services were only available to one in three New Zealanders who were dying. "If you face the death of a loved one, and you haven't got the option to go into hospice care, I think that would be a bloody grim place to be. "It was the most supportive and gentle place for us all to be with him. The care he received was outstanding. And I feel what we were shown as we navigated this incredibly difficult time was the best humans can be for each other." It cost $226 million to run the country's hospice services last year, with just half of that provided by the government. Hospice New Zealand chief executive Wayne Naylor said it was disappointing to not even rate a mention in the Budget - especially coming on top of the scuttling of the pay equity claim for hospice nurses. They are currently paid up to 35 percent less than Health NZ nurses. "That was a real out-of-the-blue sideswipe for hospices and hospice nurses in particular, to have our pay equity claim, which was almost completed, just stop." Indications that the government would not be covering future pay equity settlements for the funded sector were "very problematic". "That then falls back on community to provide more money to support their local hospice. "The alternative is that hospices have to make some staff redundant so that they can increase the salaries of other staff, and that leads to a reduction in services." Health Minister Simeon Brown told RNZ the government "values the work of hospices", but he said it was up to Health NZ to do its own negotiations with providers. "This Budget has provided $1.37b to Health NZ to not only deliver an increase in investment for those front-line hospital and specialist services, but also an uplift in investment to that funded sector, which includes primary care, which includes aged care, which includes palliative care." However, Naylor was not optimistic following meetings with Health NZ officials, the most recent one this week. "They told us they had no more funding, that they have no contingency that they can call upon, and the people with whom we met said they had no authority to allocate funding from anywhere else. "So essentially it's a no to funding from Health NZ right now." Assisted dying services receive about $11m a year from Health NZ, in order to ensure equitable access. "Which is fine for the fewer than 1 percent of people who seek it," Naylor said. "But for the 99 percent of people who die from an expected illness, only about a third can access hospice care. So there still remains that inequity that needs to be addressed." For dying children, access to specialist palliative care services were even worse . A recent MartinJenkins report found New Zealand's 28 publicly-funded hospices are returning at least $1.59 in health benefits for every dollar of taxpayer money received, including fewer ED and hospital admissions or rest home stays. Add to that the clinical services they directly fund themselves, the public benefit is even higher. Most patients under hospice care are able to stay in their own homes, with brief admissions to hospice for respite or to adjust pain medication. Nelson-Tasman Hospice nurse Donna Burnett loves her work, which is why she has stayed in the job for 36 years. However, the Nurses Organisation delegate said that good-will was being taken for granted by the government, and the end result for many was "burnout". "We can't keep giving the way we are. "Often we're short-staffed. We keep that patient centred care going, but it's coming at a cost. "We can't keep giving like we are and working understaffed because that has an impact on your wellbeing." In a written response to RNZ, Health NZ said it would shortly begin seeking feedback from the public and the sector on a model of care proposal for adult palliative care. It plans to finalise both the paediatric and adult models of care by the end of the year. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
07-06-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
Expanded Lower Hutt medical centre to cater for 'daylight hours'
The Lower Hutt After Hours Medical Centre will move to the former Te Awakairangi Birthing Centre at the end of July. Photo: RNZ / Ruth Hill A former birthing centre in Lower Hutt, which was controversially mothballed four years ago due to lack of funding, will house an expanded after-hours medical service. Lower Hutt After-Hours Medical Centre - the only drop-in clinic for more than 100,000 Hutt Valley residents - is often forced to close its doors early to new patients, because it is unable to see everyone before 10pm closing time. Manager Mark O'Connor said the shift to new premises at the former Te Awakairangi Birthing Centre at the end of July would help alleviate some of the pressure. "The new clinic has 10 consultancy rooms, instead of the three-and-a-half we have now, and its waiting room is triple the size," he said. "Patients may still have to wait, but at least they won't be queuing in the wind and the rain, as they are now sometimes." The centre had also received Government funding to extend its opening hours to "daylight hours" during the week. Currently, its hours are limited to 5.30-10pm, Monday to Friday, and 8-10pm on weekends and public holidays. From late this year or early next year, it was planned to open from 8am every day. "Until now, Hutt Valley has been the only metropolitan area without daytime urgent care, so that's a big change," he said. "We never had the facility before here. "If you know our old building, we would never have been able to cope with that during the day, but with this new facility, it gives us that opportunity. We just have to resource it." Recruitment of additional staff could be a challenge, but the attraction of a new clinic would help with that. Lower Hutt After Hours Medical Centre is leaving its current cramped premises next month. Photo: RNZ / Ruth Hill "We need to close at 10pm, because most of my doctors are working at practices during the day, so we can't keep them too long." The new clinic was also upstairs from a radiology centre, which meant patients with suspected fractures would no longer need to go to Hutt Hospital's emergency department. Frustrated patients have taken to social media to complain about the clinic closing early. One woman - who was turned away last Friday, after trying to get an appointment with her own GP all week - said the doctor shortage was the biggest barrier. "If they can fit more people into the premises, but they don't have more doctors to do the hours, then they're going to have the same problems." A plan to turn the old Te Awakairangi Birthing Centre into a special care unit was developed when Labour was in power and was heavily supported by then-MP Chris Bishop. The birthing centre, which was owned by a charitable trust, closed in 2021. Te Whatu Ora took over the facility and planned to open a first-of-its-kind transitional care unit for sick babies in 2023, but this never happened. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
06-06-2025
- General
- RNZ News
Sharp jump in Covid-19, respiratory infections
Photo: 123rf Environmental Science and Research (ESR) data shows flu and Covid infections are on the rise, with a sharp jump in hospitalisations for severe respiratory infections across Auckland in the past week. Meanwhile, GPs warn they are already under pressure. After phoning her GP clinic several times last week trying to get an urgent appointment, one desperate Lower Hutt resident decided to go to Lower Hutt After-Hours Medical Centre on Friday. "Google suggested it was busiest from when it opened 5.30pm to 7pm, so I went down at 7pm, and there was a sign up saying they weren't taking any more patients today." Her post on a community Facebook page attracted more than 100 comments, including from many patients who had had the same experience. She returned the next morning as soon as it opened at 8am, and finally got treatment. "The staff do the best they can, and it's not anything to do with the people doing their job. There are just not enough people to go around." Lower Hutt After-Hours Medical Centre was the only walk-in clinic for a population of more than 100,000 people. Manager Mark O'Connor said they treated about 45 patients a night on average, but there were times they had to turn people away. "Especially coming into this time of year with winter, we're just overloaded. We can have 20 or 30 people queuing up at the door at 5.30pm and we'll have three, even four, doctors on at times. But we just can't see everyone." ESR data showed hospitalisations for severe respiratory infections jumped more than 50 percent in the week to 1 June, although the rate remained about the same as last year. Calls to Healthline for influenza-like-illnesses increased, but were lower than at the same time last year. There were five reported outbreaks of respiratory illness: three in aged-care facilities in Nelson-Marlborough, Capital and Coast and Bay of Plenty, and two in early childhood centres, both in the Wellington region. O'Connor said seasonal pressure was compounded by the GP shortage. "Because of some patients not being able to get into their doctor during the day, we're seeing a lot more than just the usual winter type thing. We're seeing a lot more mental health and more other injuries." The clinic was moving to larger premises at the end of next month, and had funding to extend its hours from the end of the year. "The next step is to find the staff." Professor Dame Helen Stokes-Lampard. Photo: supplied Health NZ national chief medical officer Professor Dame Helen Stokes-Lampard said patients who could not get in to see their GPs - or could not enrol with a GP at all - often resorted to hospital emergency departments (EDs) . "We know there is a direct correlation between pressure on EDs and primary care services that are struggling. But EDs are not set up in the same way - it's not there to deal with respiratory illnesses, the more basic but high-volume illnesses that general practice is so well set up for, so that is a challenge." Health NZ was prepared for the inevitable winter surge - lining up extra staff, "optimising" beds and running vaccination campaigns, she said. More than 1 million New Zealanders have already had flu vaccinations this year, while only about quarter of a million are up-to-date with Covid-19 boosters. "That's similar to last year, we would really love it to be higher. The challenge is there are some people who don't have confidence in vaccination or find it difficult to access healthcare. And for those people we are really trying to do more in terms of outreach, working with community providers." percent20Region&log_or_linear=linear.=eighteenMonthsButton ESR wastewater testing showed Covid infections were on the rise again - up 75 percent in a week (between 18 and 25 May), well ahead of reported cases. South Auckland GP Allan Moffitt told First Up current variants were "not as virulent", but Covid was still dangerous for people with low immunity - and flu could also be deadly . "I've actually had several patients end up in hospital with influenza, so it's not a nice bug to have - it's not just the common cold." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
03-06-2025
- General
- RNZ News
How New Zealand schools can respond better to lockdowns
School lockdowns in New Zealand feel like they're much more common these days. So, in events like these, or when there's a natural emergency - how can schools communicate quickly with parents and the wider school community? Sharlene Barnes created a free app called Skool Loop, which more than 1300 kiwi schools already use. She says what was once considered an extraordinary emergency is now a regular occurrence and hopes more schools will take advantage of what the free app offers. Children at Arakura School in Lower Hutt line up for free lunch, on 18 March, 2024. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
