Morning Briefing March 31: GPs move to ease hospital burden

Doctor at work

Auckland GPs look to ease the continued pressure on Middlemore Hospital and calls grow for the Ports of Auckland CEO to resign. 

Sixteen Auckland GP clinics will see urgent care patients for free over the next few days in order to help ease pressure on Middlemore Hospital.

The decision was made following a significant increase in people visiting the hospital’s emergency department on Monday night.

Patients whose conditions can be treated by GPs are being encouraged to stay away from the hospital to ensure people who need urgent help can be treated quickly.

Meanwhile, a survey of New Zealand’s doctors has unearthed the pressure also being felt by GPs.

The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners’ biennial workforce survey has found “unacceptable” under-representation of Māori and Pacific GPs, a “staggering” gender pay gap, and a workforce suffering burnout.

The College is now calling for urgent Government action to “avert a community health crisis in New Zealand”.

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Petition takes aim at tobacco

The Cancer Society wants to reduce the number of shops able to sell cigarettes, saying New Zealand won’t achieve its Smokefree 2025 goal without laws to further limit the sale of tobacco.

The organisation told 1 NEWS it wants to see a few hundred tobacco retailers around the country by 2025, which would mean phasing out around 6000 to 8000 outlets that currently sell the products.

They’re launching a petition today to put pressure on the Government to act on the issue.

Tobacco is a key driver in the country’s health inequalities and is estimated to kill around 11 Kiwis a day.

Port told 'put safety before money'

Calls for the Ports of Auckland chief executive to resign are growing after a scathing report found several health and safety failings .

The report, which was commissioned after workers were killed on the job, found that productivity and profit were prioritised over safety at the port.

The report also noted a complete breakdown in the relationship between port management and the Maritime Union and recommended major improvements to health and safety systems and communications.

The full report can be found here .

Several Auckland councillors have joined the chorus of criticism of the port after the findings were released, while the Maritime Union says the report’s findings “mean the current CEO must be removed”. The family of one of the men killed on the job has also called for CEO Tony Gibson to resign

Gibson says he won’t step down , adding he has a moral obligation to lead changes at the port.

Changes follow Day 12 case

All but 28 of the now 344 returnees at Auckland’s Grand Mercure hotel have tested negative for Covid-19 as the investigation into the Day 12 case at the managed isolation facility continues.

The head of managed isolation and quarantine facilities, Brigadier Jim Bliss, says changes are also being made to the exercise bus system following the case, however some experts are calling for exercise buses to be scrapped altogether

Meanwhile, across the Tasman, Queensland authorities are taking their recent outbreak of Covid-19 “day by day”.

They say their community cases of the UK variant of the virus have come from “two distinct clusters” spread by unvaccinated health workers. 

And the World Health Organization (WHO) has today published its 120-page report into the origins of Covid-19 with Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus calling for further studies.

While this report concludes the coronavirus probably spread to people through an animal , Dr Tedros says “all hypotheses remain on the table” .

Record price for Banksy work 

An original painting by British street artist Banksy sold for a record price in Auckland last night . An anonymous Kiwi buyer bought the Keep it Real artwork for around $1.7 million.

The painting, which depicts a chimpanzee wearing a sandwich board, exceeded the auction house estimate of between $600,000 and $1 million.

The sale broke the record for the most expensive work by a living contemporary artist to be sold in New Zealand.

Other news of note this morning:

- China has passed sweeping changes to Hong Kong's electoral rules, with positions in parliament limited to “patriots”

- Chris Hipkins and Ayesha Verrall will be rolling up their sleeves today as they become New Zealand’s first politicians to receive a Covid-19 jab.

- In the first prosecution of its kind, an Auckland man has been found guilty of walking on tracks in the Waitākere Ranges that were closed to protect kauri trees from dieback. 

- A rāhui has been enacted to help protect the Foveaux Strait oyster fishery from the potential spread of a deadly parasite .

- A well-known former sportsman charged with importing methamphetamine and possessing the drug for supply has appeared in the High Court in his latest bid to keep his name secret .

- A Whangārei cement factory has come up with a concrete plan to stop three million used tyres being sent to landfills every year.  

- The White Ferns have defeated Australia with some last-ball heroics to keep their T20 series hopes alive.

- And attention Schitt’s Creek fans - the ultimate piece of memorabilia from the popular TV show is up for grabs.

And finally... 

James Mustapic and his trusty air fryer

With more people eating at home through the pandemic, the air fryer has become one of the most popular kitchen appliances for 2021.

So, comedian James Mustapic has taken a closer look at the air fryer phenomenon for Seven Sharp.

You can find his investigation here , where he asks the tough questions (like “what the hell is an air fryer and why are rich people obsessed with them?”) and uses one to cook a three-course dinner. 

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