Welfare bad for Health  
30 May 2010
Muriel Newman  
Last week the Royal Australasian College of Physicians released a report which strongly affirmed something we all know - that work is good for us. The report, Realising the Health Benefits of Work, was prepared by... More >>>

Questions of Governance
Muriel Newman
1 April 07
A Newman Weekly reader, Martin Visser, recently sent me a copy of a letter he had written to the Minister of Health on 28 November 2006 about the way his brother was being treated by the health system. In his letter he stated: “My brother Anton Visser who lives at 228 Ormond Road Gisborne, was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2003. I have been informed that in spite of numerous referrals and follow up phone calls by his GP Anton is still waiting 3 years later to see a urologist… his prostate cancer, while left untreated is now in an advanced state with a PSA reading of around 100”.  More >>>

Governments, Governance and Trust
Bronwyn Howell
1 April 2007
The recent finding by Justice Asher in the Auckland High Court that a group of District Health Boards (DHBs) failed to adequately manage both a conflict of interest invoked by one of their board members being a senior party in a contract let by the board and a fair consultation process throws into doubt the efficacy of many of the  processes undertaken by a very large number of ‘quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations’ (quangos) established in the health care sector under the health reforms implemented since 2000.  More >>>

Why the Sick Will Pay More
Bronwyn Howell
15 July 06
A fundamental tactic employed by District Health Boards (DHBs) in recent weeks in order to meet demand that they are unable or unwilling to cater for has been to refer their unsatisfied clients back to general practitioners (GPs) for treatment. More >>>

Lessons from Singapore
Muriel Newman
17 June 06
The unions have brought New Zealand ’s public hospitals to their knees with their five-day junior doctor strike. All non-urgent operations have been cancelled and 17,000 patients sent home. More >>>

Treating Men's Health Equally
Muriel Newman
29 April 06
Last year I presented a petition to Parliament calling for the introduction of a national screening programme for prostate cancer for men. As a result of that petition, I will be making a submission to the Health Select Committee on Wednesday. More >>>

Waiting for Help
Muriel Newman
16 April 06
Emily, like 180,000 or so other New Zealanders, is on a hospital waiting list. The problem is this “queue” of people waiting for surgery is no longer called a “waiting list”. It was changed when lengthening hospital waiting lists became politically embarrassing in the late nineties. More >>>