257 days ago

Two and a half years on mental health ward - and why there’s nowhere else to go

Libby Totton Reporter from Waikato Times

A mental health patient spent nearly two and a half years in Hamilton’s Henry Rongomau Bennett Centre mental health facility, with Health NZ saying patients are getting more complex as it gets harder to find housing and support to discharge people.

The patient’s two years and 110 days stay in the 60-bed facility was revealed in data released under the Official Information Act and comes as a city homeless shelter says it feels under pressure to act as a mental health facility when people do get released.

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More messages from your neighbours
5 hours ago

Is there an algae issue where you are?

Libby Totton Reporter from Waikato Times

Once touted as an anglers paradise, and a top water-sport playground on the Waikato River, Mangakino is in danger of becoming a ghost town as toxic algal blooms slowly suck the life out of its main attraction - Lake Maraetai.

Locals say cyanobacterial algal blooms in the river’s hydro lakes have become more frequent over the past five years, and when they arrive no-one can swim or fish in them.

Is there an algae issue where you are? Tell us more in the comments (adding NFP if you don't want your words used in print).

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16 hours ago

Tamahere home in dentist case was once centre of accountant’s fraud

Libby Totton Reporter from Waikato Times

It’s been a feature in a recent Hamilton District Court trial , but a Tamahere mansion already has an complicated history.

The property in Woodcock Rd - notable for having a hydroslide in the back yard - the scene of now-disproved alleged sexual offending by Hamilton dentist Rahul Gautam - made headlines more than 15 years ago, when it was a focus in the case of accountant Gary Soffe.

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22 days ago

Poll: As a customer, what do you think about automation?

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

The Press investigates the growing reliance on your unpaid labour.

Automation (or the “unpaid shift”) is often described as efficient ... but it tends to benefit employers more than consumers.

We want to know: What do you think about automation?
Are you for, or against?

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As a customer, what do you think about automation?
  • 9.3% For. Self-service is less frustrating and convenient.
    9.3% Complete
  • 43.6% I want to be able to choose.
    43.6% Complete
  • 47.1% Against. I want to deal with people.
    47.1% Complete
2472 votes