Today's Letters to the Editor from readers cover topics including plan to reduce hospital beds for elderly, Kaikorai stream and Census stats.
Malcolm Hendry
Reduction in beds will add to aged care crisis
The decision by the current government to significantly reduce dementia and psychogeriatric capacity in the new Dunedin hospital will add to the growing crisis for care of the elderly in Otago and Southland.
For decades, aged residential care facilities have provided a ‘‘moat’’ around the public health system, protecting hospitals from a major influx of long-term elderly patients, with public hospitals dealing only with the overflow.
This moat is now rapidly disappearing. Demand for aged care is rising as baby-boomers move through to later stages of life, but a broken government funding system means aged residential care is failing to keep up with demand.
The sector has become increasingly less viable, and no new conventional aged care capacity is being built.
Growing demand will not be met by the aged residential care sector, and the public hospital system will provide even less of a backstop.
Residents and families seeking appropriate dementia and psychogeriatric care will struggle to access the services they deserve.
It is disgraceful that our seniors, who have contributed so much to the communities we enjoy today, will pay the price for inept decision-making and lack of insight.
Malcolm Hendry
Chief executive, Birchleigh Residential Care Centre
Actions and inaction
In your Saturday edition (ODT 3.5.25) the Prime Minister says ‘‘six years of a Labour government of utter inaction didn't deliver a single thing for the people of Dunedin on the Dunedin Hospital’’.
Has he not seen the all but completed out patients building that was initiated and nearly all built during the Labour government’s term?
It is good that the National-led government is carrying on with the build, but why did the PM have to lie? Was it a diversion to cover their cutting back of the bed numbers?
Charlie Wilson
Green Island
Health Minister Simeon Brown has said the new hospital would open with 351 inpatient beds, 59 fewer than originally proposed, but with capacity to expand to 404 beds over time. - Editor.
Vaping and health
I am an 81-year-old asthmatic. Moreover I also suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Research reveals that young people of 16 and 17 are vaping (ODT 3.5.25) and that this will result in them at that young age progressing from vaping to fully blown chronic obstructive pulmonary disease for the rest of their lives. Furthermore, their lives will be cut short by vaping.
Brian Collins
Petone
Owl lovely
What a lovely article about our native owl Maroon Pullover (ODT 2.5.25). Also known as morepork, the ruru was transported to Dunedin after being involved in a car accident in Fiordland. The good people at our Wildlife Hospital and Botanic Garden aviary nursed him back to health, allowing him to return home. What a feel good story - we need more of these.
Gaye Ellis
Waverley
Restore natural streams like Kaikorai stream
Thanks Mary Williams for your informative article ‘‘Stream of Toxicity’’ (ODT 3.5.25).
Shame on all polluters of Kaikorai stream and best wishes to Aroha/Love Kaikorai Valley Trust (AKV).
That AKV are working to restore Kaikorai stream back to providing life for macroinvertebrates, insects, fish, eels and birds is great.
Why doesn't the Dunedin City Council remove the fence, opening the stream side path between Donald St and Townleys Rd, enabling walking there?
Wouldn't it be good to be able to walk beside this and other streams and rivers in Otago?
Many enjoy being part of nature, getting outside into our wonderful environment.
Thanks to all who help restore natural systems in public spaces.
Lynne Stewart
Clyde
The silent type
Interesting to see Doug Hall's response to the planting of a few trees along the edge of the Kaikorai stream by the property he owns. He said more in this article than he did in the whole nine years he was a councillor at the Dunedin City Council.
Neville McLay
Opoho
Double counts confusing and far too broad
I refer to an excellent expose by Hilary Calvert on the questions in the last census and a perplexing reply from Stats NZ (ODT 2.5.25) arguing why dual counting for mixed heritage is frankly OK, when it is arguably outside of the Census honesty requirement.
The issue is not assisted by the Census question of ethnicity and the further collation of those who ticked Maori (366,015). Those who had further confirmed their ethnicity was actually Maori mixed with European and other non determined races (409,401) were then, to assist Stats NZ, lumped in with Maori as a predominant ethnicity which gives a distorted total of 887,493 or 17.8% of the population.
Either Maori 7.4% - 366,015 or being part European/Maori 9.0% - 409,401 ethnicity or heritage should be what Census data and the government Budget appropriations apply funds to and not double dipping.
This is definitely misleading towards inaccuracy. Surely in 2025 we are either born here or happy to be a resident in New Zealand and the minutiae of our differences is irrelevant.
Basil Walker
Queenstown
In her letter explaining how Stats NZ uses ethnicity information, Kathy Connolly confuses the issue by claiming Asian and European are ethnicities. These are not ethnicities but broad geographical areas.
It is ridiculous to suggest that people from Iraq and Korea are of the same ethnicity. Or that people from Greece are the same ethnicity as people from Iceland. It is estimated there are some 2000 ethnic groups in India, 600 in Indonesia.
Apparently Stats NZ decided that using accurate ethnicities was too ‘‘messy’’ and so they lump together huge geographical groups which they then falsely claim to be ethnic groups with something in common. This enables the production of meaningless statistics such as the average life span of Asians in New Zealand.
R Donaldson
Dunedin
Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: editor@odt.co.nz
