Hospital EDs are using a voucher system to divert patients to private clinics
What's happening:
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Waitākere Hospital’s stretched emergency department is sending about 25 patients a day to an urgent care clinic with a voucher to cover the cost. The vouchers are offered to patients when EDs have long wait times and cover consultations which can cost as much as $200 at private centres. The voucher system has been in place at emergency departments for at least 10 years, but their use has risen dramatically at some hospitals. In the last three years, the number of vouchers issued at Waitākere Hospital has increased nearly 60%. The total spent on vouchers in Waitematā (North Shore and Waitākere EDs) was $1.8m in 2024, up from $1m in 2022.
The response:
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Dr Kate Allan, the NZ chair of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine, said the voucher system relieved pressures on the EDs where they were offered. "Where it is in effect it makes a difference for those patients... because it spreads the load and it redirects those patients to the care they need in urgent care." But Northland ED doctor Dr Gary Payinda said he believed the voucher system was one of a growing number of areas in which public services were being privatised. "In order to have a good, stable system in the future, you cannot keep giving public taxpayer money to private corporations because it weakens the system from within." Payinda estimated that the $1.8m spent on vouchers last year in Waitematā would pay for up to 14 nurse practitioners, who could see up to 100 patients a day.
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Even Australians get it - so why not Kiwis???
“Ten years ago, if a heatwave as intense as last week’s record-breaker had hit the east coast, Australia’s power supply may well have buckled. But this time, the system largely operated as we needed, despite some outages.
On Australia’s main grid last quarter, renewables and energy storage contributed more than 50% of supplied electricity for the first time, while wholesale power prices were more than 40% lower than a year earlier.
[…] shifting demand from gas and coal for power and petrol for cars is likely to deliver significantly lower energy bills for households.
Last quarter, wind generation was up almost 30%, grid solar 15% and grid-scale batteries almost tripled their output. Gas generation fell 27% to its lowest level for a quarter century, while coal fell 4.6% to its lowest quarterly level ever.
Gas has long been the most expensive way to produce power. Gas peaking plants tend to fire up only when supply struggles to meet demand and power prices soar. Less demand for gas has flowed through to lower wholesale prices.”
Full article: www.theguardian.com...
If even Australians see the benefit of solar - then why is NZ actively boycotting solar uptake? The increased line rental for electricity was done to make solar less competitive and prevent cost per kWh to rise even more than it did - and electricity costs are expected to rise even more. Especially as National favours gas - which is the most expensive form of generating electricity. Which in turn will accelerate Climate Change, as if New Zealand didn’t have enough problems with droughts, floods, slips, etc. already.
New BEGINNERS LINEDANCING CLASS
Epsom Methodist church
12 pah Rd GREENWOODS cnr. Epsom
Monday 9th February 7pm - 9pm
Tuesday 10th February 10am -11am
Just turn up on the day
Time to Tickle Your Thinker 🧠
If a zookeeper had 100 pairs of animals in her zoo, and two pairs of babies are born for each one of the original animals, then (sadly) 23 animals don’t survive, how many animals do you have left in total?
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