THE HEALTH SYSTEM

HEALTH
Over the last fifteen years there has been an ever-ongoing saga of the 'Health' of the Health system in New Zealand. This has been taking the focus off the real problems. We have seen tax payers money being wasted on things like name changes, The Hospital centre in Hamilton, for example, was for many years known as Waikato Hospital, then during the 90s it was known as, Waikato Area health Board, Waiora Waikato, and many more. Each time there was a change there was the associated costs of this eating into the medical budgets. Not to mention the payment scheme foisted on customers that was started.

My point is that there has been millions of dollars spent on so-called revamps and facelifts of the health system, which were not required. Maybe it is time that the Real problems are addressed, those that have been covered up by the system revamps. I am also talking about a revamp of the WINZ system, from the ground up, no more name changes please, just ironing out the ever increasing wrinkles in the carpet, a fairer system than we have. It is time to take a step backwards so that Health (& WINZ) can then take the proverbial two steps forward. I have personally been waiting for chataract surgery for the past 2 years, and when I contacted my hospital a couple of weeks ago I was told that my surgery "would not happen in my lifetime on the public system". I have to have chataracts in both eyes and then they system MIGHT think about fixing just one eye. I already have a 50% hearing loss, and what would life be like if a person was blind as well as deaf. I can say for sure, that there is no life in a cabbage.

Beneficiaries are not second class citizens in NZ we are equal to anyone else, it is just that we are not blessed with the opportunities that other members of society are, like employment. Stop handing out millions of dollars under the excuse of "International Requirements" and actually sort out the problems at home first.

"Its broke - Lets fix it. Dammit!"