Clearer vision of ophthalmology
Thanks to Fiona Ellis for her article regarding the eye clinic and the new hospital build (ODT 20.11.23).
Finally, we have actual figures which clearly illustrate the inadequacy of the design for one department within the new build. To advance from 654sq m to 700sq m is a 7% increase in floor area. Is this expected to cater for our growing population for the next 10 to 20 years? The 46sq m floor area increase equates to approximately one quarter of the floor area of the average New Zealand home built in 2019.
Mr Hamish Brown, answering on behalf of Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand included two comments that need scrutiny.
"This resulted in an increased size in the waiting area . . . " - so the actual increase in clinical working space must be less than 46sq m.
"This space is flexible to accommodate demand from the ophthalmology department and other outpatient services." — so the 700sq m space in the new outpatients building is not solely for the eye clinic use.
This does not give me any great confidence for the future clinical services from the eye clinic. I would have hoped that our hard-working clinicians and their assistants were being better catered for.
I fail to understand how a bigger waiting room for ophthalmology in the new Dunedin hospital is seen as an improvement in service provision. Surely using the space for extra clinic and treatment rooms (and employing more staff) would make more sense. If the patients could be seen quicker and more efficiently, the need for a bigger waiting room would not be an issue.
The other "hidden message" in the article was that the area was to be flexible and shared — so no increase at all really and probably a reduction in overall space when considered with other service demands.
Forbury Park
Wouldn't it be great if the Dunedin City Council bought the racecourse land and then leased it back to the trotting club? The centre of the track could then be made into a water collection point (a sump) to enable the trapped storm water from the surrounding streets to be pumped directly out to the sea.
Meaningful commitment
Last week we had another opinion piece from academic and political activist Metiria Stanton Turei (ODT 17.11.23).
It was refreshing for once, that in the article which was about homeless people preferring to be in prison rather than out on the street, that she did not play her usual colonial oppression and Māori disadvantage game.
Her own political party was part of the previous government and did nothing to address the issue she has raised. That is because they were too busy race-baiting and supporting the culture war which has raged in this country.
The point that she failed to include was the fact that a lot of the people in the situation she described suffer from various mental issues, which successive governments have failed to address in any meaningful way.
The previous government made a commitment during its first term to heavily invest in mental health. As with most of their initiatives it was a dismal failure.
It is time for us to realise that we should never have closed the residential institutions like Cherry Farm, which gave the patients a caring and safe environment, instead of pushing them out into the community to fend for themselves.
Benefits to be had from both track and trail
Andrew Simms should pull his head in: the Taieri Gorge Railway should be retained. In fact what should happen is the line from Hindon to Middlemarch should be upgraded to take the train right through to Middlemarch. Then the capacity of the Taieri Gorge Express should be increased to cater for the carriage of cycles. This would allow those wishing to cycle the Otago Central Rail Trail to travel by train from Dunedin to Middlemarch to start their journey there.
Likewise, those having cycled the trail from Central Otago could travel through to Dunedin by rail. This would mean that, as well as the Rail Trail experience they would also experience a world-class rail trip — two for the price of one, so to speak.
The expenditure in Dunedin envisaged by Mr Simms, based on Benje Patterson’s report, of between $6.9m and $11.4m per annum, would just as likely occur with this scenario, as it would with extending the Rail Trail to Dunedin. Maybe even more so if such a joint attraction were to be properly promoted and marketed. That would then leave open the possibility of re-establishing a commuter rail link between Mosgiel and Dunedin, which should occur soonest and assist with achieving our lower carbon targets by, over time, reducing the number of cars on the road between the two.
We should not hastily abandon the Taieri Gorge Railway, in favour of extending the Rail Trail. It is possible for Dunedin to benefit from both experiences, if the will is there. I await the council’s decision with interest.
For the excursion train to be a viable link for cyclists to connect to the Central Otago Rail Trail, it needs to run to at least Pukerangi.
Anything less than that would not be suitable for most cyclists.
Terrorism, and it’s them or us for survival
Interesting to read the contribution of Alex Miller (ODT 14.11.23) regards the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. I have to ask if the contributor has read in full the original charter of Hamas?
Leading up to Israel’s response to the October 7 attack by Hamas, on October 13 it dropped millions of leaflets advising citizens to leave to the south within a window of time. Many did not.
Why? Was it of their own volition to stay or was it perhaps that Hamas would not orchestrate such a move? After all they all knew that a response from Israel would be made given the level of violence by Hamas.
The United Nations has what is called "the principle of proportionality" pursuant to any military response to an attack on a country’s sovereign territory or interests. Should the USA have adopted a similar response after Pearl Harbour? Should Ukraine do similar in defence of their country against Russian aggression?
As long as the Iranians fund Hamas, and its charter, for most Jewish people I know they hate what is happening, however it is now "them or us" for survival.
The conflagration being rained on the long-suffering Palestinian people highlights the selective use of the word "terrorism" in the popular media.
Of course Hamas — the elected government of Gaza let's not forget — is always a "terrorist" group, even though people under occupation have the traditional right to resist. Whoever or whatever controls the mainstream media house style will never allow Israel to be called a terrorist state, despite the huge dollops of terror it inflicts on its neighbours. That would be automatically labelled "anti-semitic". Neither will the carefully curated narrative surrounding Israel's "right to defend itself" ever describe its belligerent behaviour as terrorism. Instead it merely "attacks’.
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