Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

On Monday I reflected on a year of Te Whatu Ora, and how those within the sector rate the new centralised health system.   I said that, from what I’ve been told, Te Whatu Ora has not worked hard enough or quickly enough over the last year to get staff on side, to fill the staffing shortages, to fix the postcode lottery, to shorten surgery and GP wait times, to give emergency departments some relief or provide adequate mental health services.   No reasonable person expects them to have solved all these problems in a year, but we should expect they’ve made some key moves.   Since Monday morning the Ministry of Health has been firing out announcements as if it’s on steroids, and doing their best to show the naysayers like myself that tangible action is on its way.   So far we’ve had a new pay equity offer for nurses, another 830 clinical placements for nursing students, a new nation-wide lower threshold for cataract surgery, and yesterday the release of a comprehensive health recruitment and retention plan.   It