Latest news with #RachelHelyerDonaldson
Otago Daily Times
01-07-2025
- Health
- Otago Daily Times
Dementia patients 'put staff at risk'
By Rachel Helyer Donaldson of RNZ Senior doctors say staff on general wards are being put in life-threatening situations because hospitals are pressuring them to admit physically and sexually aggressive older psychiatric patients. Senior doctor Cindy Towns said a nurse in Wellington was stabbed by an older patient with dementia last year. "There have been numerous and serious assaults on our staff. ''There have also been incidents nationally and internationally where patients have been assaulted by older adults with these psychiatric symptoms of dementia where they become violent and unmanageable.'' Towns was one of nine senior physicians calling for secure settings for patients with the behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia, after a spate of serious assaults on staff nationally. They were speaking out publicly after their concerns fell on deaf ears. ''It's been going on a long time, but the population ageing and dementia has dramatically increased.'' Older dementia patients could be stronger than people realised, she said. ''We have numerous [instances of] biting, hitting - it's serious violence. These patients, they're not all frail and inoffensive in terms of what they can do. ''We have no risk stratification; our hospitals are expecting medical wards to manage even the most violent people.'' Australia proposed ''risk stratification'' - categorising patients into different risk groups - two decades ago, she said. ''This is an example of New Zealand just not planning ahead. ''These patients require specialist services, these are severe presentations and require secure, locked dedicated rooms, managed by trained staff, not just defaulted to medical wards in general hospitals.'' The situation had worsened in recent years, and it was now ''untenable'', Dr Towns said. ''Many years ago when I started, it was an occasional 'picking up the pieces' for the psych ward, seen as helping out, but now, it seems an expectation. ''We're put under undue pressure to admit these patients, which often puts our patients and staff at risk.'' There was a ''large and worsening shortage of mental health beds for older adults''. ''But rather than address this pressing need, hospitals are pressuring medical wards to admit these purely psychiatric presentations.'' Patients suffering psychiatric symptoms of dementia came to emergency departments when they were ''unmanageable, very intrusive, when they're sexually aggressive or violent''. New Zealand hospitals had a shortage of single rooms, even though this was becoming commonplace overseas. The group had made a submission to the 2018 Government Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction and recently wrote to the health select committee, but it was yet to hear back. ''It's deeply concerning. There seems to be a real lack of willingness to engage in what is obviously a difficult topic but a really important one from the perspective of safety and basic standards of care.'' Towns said news the new Dunedin hospital had cut back on psychiatric geriatric beds was ''almost incomprehensible'' in the face of an ageing population and increase in dementia. Alzheimers New Zealand said by 2050 one in four New Zealanders will die with the condition. There are about 70,000 people with the condition now, but in 25 years that will hit almost 170,000. ''Those demographic trends are well known, they're on the Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora website and yet we're slashing them [the psychiatric geriatric beds],'' Dr Towns said. ''That to me is incomprehensible. More importantly, its frankly unsafe, where are they going to put those patients?'' In a written response to RNZ, Health NZ group director of operations for Capital, Coast and Hutt Valley Jamie Duncan said the agency understood the challenges staff faced when treating older dementia patients, who were "unaware of the impact their sometimes aggressive behaviour can have". "Our hospitals and ED staff do their best to manage all patients presenting for care in a way that keeps both them, and those around them, safe. "In Wellington specifically we have developed recent initiatives to improve the experience of both patients and staff presenting to ED with a mental illness or challenging behaviour, including those with dementia." These included: Shifting the Wellington Crisis Resolution services nearer to Wellington ED Partnering with Kites Trust to embed peer support specialists in Wellington ED Increasing the number of mental health specialists - psychiatrists, nurses and nurse practitioners - based in Wellington ED and able to complete crisis assessments Partnering with Wellington City Mission to provide an alternative safe space for people in mental distress Working with Pathways Trust to establish a six-bed acute alternative service Developing a regional extended care facility that will provide more appropriate placement for people, especially those with dementia. Dr Matthew Croucher, spokesperson for the Faculty of Psychiatry of Old Age at the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, said while they understood and shared the safety concerns of healthcare staff, these issues were symptoms of a health system poorly equipped to support a rapidly ageing population. He said aggressive incidents involving people with dementia were "relatively rare", and stigmatising language could deter families from seeking help. "These are people who need care when they're struggling, and turning them away from services is not the solution." The government needed to give Health NZ the resources to implement a plan made in 2020, called "Dementia Mate Wareware" which outlined evidence-based solutions, he believed. "For seven years since the Government Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction, the Faculty and the College have been advocating for greater investment in community, hospital, and residential care services that are properly resourced to meet the needs of older people requiring psychiatric care," he said. "The Action Plan calls for investment upstream - at the top of the cliff - rather than just crisis responses at the bottom, though all levels need equitable resourcing to meet this challenge."
Otago Daily Times
20-05-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Scammers target bars, cafes and restaurants
By Rachel Helyer Donaldson of RNZ Fraudsters are targeting cafes, restaurants and bars, with at least two scams doing the rounds of the capital's dining scene, as well as some in Christchurch. Hospitality NZ spokesperson Sam McKinnon says one scam doing the rounds in the capital involves a man claiming to be a diner, whose partner had become severely ill after eating there. In several cases it was alleged the woman had gone into anaphylactic shock after eating onions which she was allergic to. Another cafe was asked for a refund by a man who said his companion had had food poisoning. The businesses realised it was the same person, after the scam was flagged up on a hospitality sector Facebook page, McKinnon said. It was "disappointing and frustrating" for the sector, particularly in the tough economic climate, he added. Fortune Favours venue manager Rachael Lee said she believed her bar was targeted by the same man earlier this month. "He was claiming he'd ordered food and his wife, who was allergic to onions, had been given onions, and due to the fact that they weren't New Zealand citizens they had been over-charged hospital bills and now it was on us to pay them. "We never want to have someone be over-charged, so we always try to check receipts and look through past transactions. But there was never any proof, just demanding money without providing any evidence." Her suspicions were confirmed when she heard other venues had been targeted by similar scams. She was aware of about 10 bars targeted by the onions scam and thought at least several of them fell for it, which could have been potentially costly, she added. "Some people have smelt a rat and said no, go away. But others have been called out and handed over the money." None of the stories matched, she said. "If I hadn't seen the [Facebook group] post that he had already hit other bars, we probably would have been scammed out of a lot of money." Maura Rigby - the co-owner and director of Beach Babylon and Little Beer Quarter - said both venues had been targeted by people running "the overcharging or double charging scam" at least twice in the past six months. Staff had been alerted to two attempts to get refunds based on fabricated credit card statements, she said. "We're talking about $200 to $300, not huge numbers, when you compare it to large scams like bank fraud. But for the hospitality industry, it's a nuisance and it's a significant amount of money." When the person making the claim was asked for extra evidence, "we found that the person just disappeared". The same thing had happened this year, although she was not sure if it was a different person, or group of people, she said. "We're a customer service industry, we want to please our customers and put any problems, anything not done right, as quickly as possible. "Initially we're always really receptive to hear if there was a mistake and we thoroughly investigate it. But now we'll just be asking for a little bit more information so that we can ensure that it actually matches up with transactions that happened at our businesses, rather than just people targeting us because we like to please our customers. "It's not a great time for us. I guess other people are doing it tough too, and that might be why there's a rise of scams like this. But we don't have the margins to withstand extra expenses like this at the moment." Restaurant Association chief executive Marisa Bidois said it had been alerted to the scams by members in both Wellington and Christchurch. The association was sending out a notice to alert others who may not have heard about it, she added. Scams put additional stress on restaurants in challenging economic times. "Having to deal with this and figuring out what's genuine and what's not can be a bit of a minefield." It was important for companies dealing with these sorts of complaints to request a receipt, establish the details correctly, and have a clear refund and complaints policy, she said. "It is surprising how often people will claim to have been in a restaurant and eaten a certain dish, and then later on the owner will discover they definitely weren't here, as they didn't serve that dish that night. In some cases, we've seen people stating that they've consumed something that isn't even on the menu. It definitely pays to gather all the information."
Otago Daily Times
20-05-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Scammers hitting hospo outlets in Wellington, Christchurch
By Rachel Helyer Donaldson of RNZ Fraudsters are targeting cafes, restaurants and bars, with at least two scams doing the rounds of the capital's dining scene, as well as some in Christchurch. Hospitality NZ spokesperson Sam McKinnon says one scam in the capital involves a man claiming to be a diner whose partner had become severely ill after eating there. In several cases it was alleged the woman had gone into anaphylactic shock after eating onions, which she was allergic to. Another cafe was asked for a refund by a man who said his companion had had food poisoning. The businesses realised it was the same person, after the scam was flagged up on a hospitality sector Facebook page, McKinnon said. It was "disappointing and frustrating" for the sector, particularly in the tough economic climate, he added. Fortune Favours venue manager Rachael Lee said she believed her bar was targeted by the same man earlier this month. "He was claiming he'd ordered food and his wife, who was allergic to onions, had been given onions, and due to the fact that they weren't New Zealand citizens they had been over-charged hospital bills and now it was on us to pay them. "We never want to have someone be over-charged, so we always try to check receipts and look through past transactions. But there was never any proof, just demanding money without providing any evidence." Her suspicions were confirmed when she heard other venues had been targeted by similar scams. She was aware of about 10 bars targeted by the onions scam and thought at least several of them fell for it, which could have been potentially costly, she added. "Some people have smelt a rat and said no, go away. But others have been called out and handed over the money." None of the stories matched, she said. "If I hadn't seen the [Facebook group] post that he had already hit other bars, we probably would have been scammed out of a lot of money." Maura Rigby - the co-owner and director of Beach Babylon and Little Beer Quarter - said both venues had been targeted by people running "the overcharging or double charging scam" at least twice in the past six months. Staff had been alerted to two attempts to get refunds based on fabricated credit card statements, she said. "We're talking about $200 to $300, not huge numbers, when you compare it to large scams like bank fraud. But for the hospitality industry, it's a nuisance and it's a significant amount of money." When the person making the claim was asked for extra evidence, "we found that the person just disappeared". The same thing had happened this year, although she was not sure if it was a different person, or group of people, she said. "We're a customer service industry, we want to please our customers and put any problems, anything not done right, as quickly as possible. "Initially we're always really receptive to hear if there was a mistake and we thoroughly investigate it. But now we'll just be asking for a little bit more information so that we can ensure that it actually matches up with transactions that happened at our businesses, rather than just people targeting us because we like to please our customers. "It's not a great time for us. I guess other people are doing it tough too, and that might be why there's a rise of scams like this. But we don't have the margins to withstand extra expenses like this at the moment." Restaurant Association chief executive Marisa Bidois said it had been alerted to the scams by members in both Wellington and Christchurch. The association was sending out a notice to alert others who may not have heard about it, she added. Scams put additional stress on restaurants in challenging economic times. "Having to deal with this and figuring out what's genuine and what's not can be a bit of a minefield." It was important for companies dealing with these sorts of complaints to request a receipt, establish the details correctly, and have a clear refund and complaints policy, she said. "It is surprising how often people will claim to have been in a restaurant and eaten a certain dish, and then later on the owner will discover they definitely weren't here, as they didn't serve that dish that night. In some cases, we've seen people stating that they've consumed something that isn't even on the menu. It definitely pays to gather all the information."
Otago Daily Times
10-05-2025
- Health
- Otago Daily Times
Cancer patients welcome Pharmac boost
By Rachel Helyer Donaldson of RNZ Cancer specialists and patients with advanced melanoma have welcomed the news that three potentially life-saving skin cancer medicines are to be funded from 1 June. The state drug-buying agency Pharmac announced on Friday it would fund more medicines for people with late stage skin cancer (stage 3B to stage 4 melanoma). The decision includes widening access to pembrolizumab (branded as Keytruda), and funding dabrafenib, (Tafinlar) and trametinib (Mekinist), for the first time. Pharmac director pharmaceuticals Geraldine MacGibbon said the move would help 285 people by preventing their cancer from spreading or coming back. Melanoma NZ trustee and oncologist Dr Rosalie Stephens said the drugs were "both life-saving and life extending" and the decision was "welcome news". "I think this news will come as a huge relief because New Zealanders with melanoma are well-informed. They know the impact that these medicines are having overseas and stakeholders have been asking for this decision for some time, so psychologically I think there will be a huge degree of relief. "And also psychosocially, more broadly, as it will have a big impact on people's financial status because many New Zealanders have been paying out of pocket for these important medicines." Aucklander Fin Bergin, who was diagnosed with stage 3 melanoma in September 2024, agreed the funding would make a huge difference. After two surgeries, the 28-year-old had been paying for the immunotherapy medicine combination of dabrafenib and trametinib, through a combination of personal savings, parental and family support, and donations through a Givealittle page. "This [funded treatment] will... put me at ease, because the biggest stress since my diagnosis has been money related." Stephens said it had been a "10-year progress" to get some of the medicines funded, and cancer specialists had felt "anxious about the gap, particularly when we compare ourselves to similar health systems, notably Australia and the UK". But she added engagement with Pharmac over the past year had left her feeling "much more positive". "We've had really constructive engagement, I would say. So yes, there's been the frustration. But we have really seen improvements and the transparency of the process, and we're pleased for that and we hope that continues." Minister of Health Simeon Brown said National campaigned on boosting Pharmac funding to cover 13 additional cancer treatments and this week's announcement meant that, come 1 June, this would be achieved.
Otago Daily Times
10-05-2025
- Health
- Otago Daily Times
New cancer drugs get Pharmac boost
By Rachel Helyer Donaldson of RNZ Cancer specialists and patients with advanced melanoma have welcomed the news that three potentially life-saving skin cancer medicines are to be funded from 1 June. The state drug-buying agency Pharmac announced on Friday it would fund more medicines for people with late stage skin cancer (stage 3B to stage 4 melanoma). The decision includes widening access to pembrolizumab (branded as Keytruda), and funding dabrafenib, (Tafinlar) and trametinib (Mekinist), for the first time. Pharmac director pharmaceuticals Geraldine MacGibbon said the move would help 285 people by preventing their cancer from spreading or coming back. Melanoma NZ trustee and oncologist Dr Rosalie Stephens said the drugs were "both life-saving and life extending" and the decision was "welcome news". "I think this news will come as a huge relief because New Zealanders with melanoma are well-informed. They know the impact that these medicines are having overseas and stakeholders have been asking for this decision for some time, so psychologically I think there will be a huge degree of relief. "And also psychosocially, more broadly, as it will have a big impact on people's financial status because many New Zealanders have been paying out of pocket for these important medicines." Aucklander Fin Bergin, who was diagnosed with stage 3 melanoma in September 2024, agreed the funding would make a huge difference. After two surgeries, the 28-year-old had been paying for the immunotherapy medicine combination of dabrafenib and trametinib, through a combination of personal savings, parental and family support, and donations through a Givealittle page. "This [funded treatment] will... put me at ease, because the biggest stress since my diagnosis has been money related." Stephens said it had been a "10-year progress" to get some of the medicines funded, and cancer specialists had felt "anxious about the gap, particularly when we compare ourselves to similar health systems, notably Australia and the UK". But she added engagement with Pharmac over the past year had left her feeling "much more positive". "We've had really constructive engagement, I would say. So yes, there's been the frustration. But we have really seen improvements and the transparency of the process, and we're pleased for that and we hope that continues." Minister of Health Simeon Brown said National campaigned on boosting Pharmac funding to cover 13 additional cancer treatments and this week's announcement meant that, come 1 June, this would be achieved.
