Category: New Zealand Government Public Service

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Overnight, intermittent closure of Porter River Bridge, State Highway 73, from Monday, 12 March

Source: New Zealand Transport Agency – Press Release/Statement:

Headline: Overnight, intermittent closure of Porter River Bridge, State Highway 73, from Monday, 12 March

From next Monday night, 12 March, the bridge will be closed overnight for an hour at a time from 10pm to 6am. It will be opened on the hour, (for example at 11 pm, then at midnight, then 1 am) every hour to clear traffic. The exception will be emergency vehicles which will be helped across the bridge as quickly as possible.  

  • The work will be completed by 26 March, if crews get a run of dry weather. If not, the nights may be extended.
  • The Porter River bridge is about 8kms west of Lake Lyndon, between Lake Lyndon and Castle Hill Village/Cave Stream Scenic Reserve.
  • The work is to repair the bridge deck seals.
  • Electronic signs on State Highway 73 will warn drivers of the intermittent closure from Tuesday, 6 March.

How to stay up to date:

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Completing-the-Census-is-vital-to-help-us-plan-and-fund-your-health-services

Source: Canterbury District Health Board – Press Release/Statement:

Headline: Completing-the-Census-is-vital-to-help-us-plan-and-fund-your-health-services

Title: Completing the Census is vital to help us plan and fund your health services
Abstract: ​Completing your Census form and being counted as a Cantabrian is important and will help ensure your DHB is funded correctly. Everybody counts. That’s the message from the Canterbury District Health Board.

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Brazil: Yellow Fever outbreak

Source: New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade – Safe Travel – Press Release/Statement:

Headline: Brazil: Yellow Fever outbreak

Yellow fever is an acute viral disease transmitted by infected mosquitoes. Infection with the yellow fever virus causes varying degrees of disease, from mild symptoms to severe illness with bleeding and jaundice. About 15% of people infected with yellow fever progress to a severe form of the illness, and half of those will die, as there is no cure for yellow fever.

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Sue loves her job after 40 years service

Source: Tairawhiti District Health – Press Release/Statement:

Headline: Sue loves her job after 40 years service

Sue Cranston with her daughters Kylie Dowding and Kimberley Cranston.

After 40 years dedicated service to nursing, many of those years spent supporting children and whānau in Tairāwhiti Sue Cranston still loves her job.

A highlight of Sue’s career has been working in Planet Sunshine and contributing to many improvements to the service. Sue is the Paediatric Quality and Education Coordinator. “I am passionate about improving the quality of care to our children and families and being able to contribute to making improvements for staff. I work with a great team of people who show respect, care and work well together.”

She is known as the lady of the night in reference to her many years of service in Planet Sunshine as a senior night nurse whose calm and caring manner has kept mums, babies and her colleagues safe and reassured.

Sue trained at Christchurch Polytechnic. It was the second year of the “new “ way of training and there was only a choice of Wellington, Christchurch and a new school in Nelson. “I chose Christchurch, learnt to ski and met my husband Andy while down there! Because this was a new way to train nurses we felt we had to prove ourselves against the still active apprenticeship type training.” 

After graduating Sue worked for two years at Waikato Hospital in the surgical and then high dependency wards. “As soon as my two-year bonded period was completed, Andy and I headed off on our OE. We stayed for eight years. I worked in South Africa, London and in Cornwall. We would work for a while, then travel for a while. We visited so many countries including a five-month overland trip through Africa (a travel highlight). We also lived for a year in France.

When we finally returned to New Zealand I was 5 months pregnant. I got a temporary job in Paediatrics until just before Kylie was born. When a night shift job came up a few months later, I applied I have been ever since.” 

I have seen many changes in my time here that make a real difference to the people we care for. We now have different/better models of care, rapidly advancing technology and we work in partnership with whānau who are part of caring for their child. Parents can now stay with their child; homesickness used to be so difficult to deal with in the night. 

Nursing is now a highly qualified profession. Nurses need a Bachelor’s degree and postgraduate education is encouraged. We now have opportunities for nurses to become Nurse Practitioners and now Nurse Prescribers to make the most of their skills. 

“Taking on the quality then the education roles has been a highlight of my career. I am proud of the many improvements I have been a part of. Developing the play specialist service, creating a virtual tour of Planet Sunshine, pain management manuals, Paediatric Early Warning Score charts, entrance art are some of the things that come to mind. 

Sue Cranston’s 40 years dedicated service to nursing and support of the children and whānau in Tairāwhiti was acknowledged recently by Nurses and Midwives of Tairāwhiti (NAMOT). Colleague Natasha Ashworth spoke about Sue’s dedication to other nurses. Sue is not just passionate about the children and whānau in Planet Sunshine but also her nursing colleagues. Sue has been a proponent of nurse education, encouraging nurses to gain postgraduate qualifications as well as organising local education sessions in pain management for the team and wider hospital group. Sue supports the new graduate nurses in their portfolio preparation and with their projects. As Sue is a portfolio assessor she also has the opportunity to encourage nurses across the DHB to work on the quality of their portfolios. This she does in a kind, professional and supportive manner, offering practical feedback and suggestions.

Sue is described as being a role model to all staff both new and old. She role models the WAKA values: showing whakarangatira with her quality work, awhi to nurses across the DHB, kotahitanga as she steps up to Clinical Nurse Manager in Deb McKay’s absence and aroha for the whanau in her care.

Thank you to Sue Cranston for 40 years dedicated service to nursing and support of the children and whanau in Tairawhiti.

Sue is pictured with her daughters Kylie Dowding and Kimberley Cranston.

 

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Build in time through Kawarau Gorge and Haast to Makarora this week as Central Otago summer road sealing is completed

Source: New Zealand Transport Agency – Press Release/Statement:

Headline: Build in time through Kawarau Gorge and Haast to Makarora this week as Central Otago summer road sealing is completed

  • Drivers through the Kawarau Gorge this week need to build in an extra 35 minutes with sealing underway while the temperature is warm. 
  • Between Haast and Makarora, drivers should build in an extra 20 minutes.

NZ Transport Agency Central Otago Maintenance Contract Manager Mark Stewart says measures have been put in place to help ensure there isn’t a repeat of the lengthy delays in the Kawarau Gorge which occurred on a recent Friday afternoon, while the Crown Range Road was also closed.  But there will still be delays, so drivers need to be prepared and build in extra time, he says. 

“The Transport Agency thanks all road users for their patience while the last stages of this important work are finished, and for the safety of roads crews, please take care when driving through work sites and stick to the temporary speed limits.” 

Two major road maintenance projects are currently in progress in Central Otago: 

Kawarau Gorge (SH6 between Cromwell and Queenstown): programmed for completion by the end of March.  Sealing is scheduled to start on either Tuesday 6 March or Wednesday 7 March, weather permitting.  Please allow an extra 35 minutes travel time for your trips on this route in the coming week, says Mr Stewart.

http://www.journeys.nzta.govt.nz/traffic/roadworks/198592

Haast Pass (SH6 between Haast and Makarora): programmed for completion by mid to late March.  Delays of up to 20 minutes should be expected during the final stages of this project.

http://www.journeys.nzta.govt.nz/traffic/areawarnings/197409

How to stay up to date:

 

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Minister’s address to the 2018 IFA conference

Source: New Zealand Inland Revenue Department – Press Release/Statement:

Headline: Minister’s address to the 2018 IFA conference

The Minister of Revenue, Hon Stuart Nash, spoke at the International Fiscal Association’s conference over the weekend. The Minister focussed on the current priorities facing the Government, particularly measures currently being considered to make the tax system fairer and more business-friendly. For more information see the Minister of Revenue’s speech.

read more

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Do the census, its good for your health

Source: Tairawhiti District Health – Press Release/Statement:

Headline: Do the census, its good for your health

Health in Tairāwhiti needs all the funds it can get.

Census day – Tuesday 6 March 2018 – has a big impact on how many health dollars end up in the district. Health funding is population-based. It’s not just the number of people either; older, younger, rural and people on low incomes attract a higher rate of health funding.

This year the census is online. “If a lot of older people don’t complete it, for instance, that will have a significant effect on how much funding we get to provide health services in Tairāwhiti”, says Hauora Tairāwhiti Chief Executive Jim Green.

“The population count for Tairāwhiti in the 2013 census was 43,653, of which 19,683 were Māori. At the time there were closer to 45,000 people enrolled in a Tairāwhiti General Practice. This suggests that around 1500 residents didn’t complete a census or missed out being included in the count. On average each resident is worth approximately $3600 in health dollars. That equates to $5.4 million Tairāwhiti may have missed out on each year since.”

That is a large amount of money for many services we could have provided in the community, in hospital, caring for so many more people.

At the moment we have 47,700 people enrolled with a Tairāwhiti General Practice. National population projections suggest that our population numbers may be closer to 48,700. We really need the Census figures to confirm that significant increase in population. The increase in demand on GPs and Gisborne Hospital suggest that we are serving more people.

“Census data is not only used to determine funding; it is used to help us plan for the future. Having accurate information about our people helps us make decisions about which services are needed and where they should be.”

So please take time to fill out the census and also please make sure family, friends, work mates, everyone you know also helps us to get what we need to make for more and better health care in Tairāwhiti.

All people staying overnight at Gisborne Hospital will be given a paper copy of the census to complete. “We don’t have Wi-Fi on the wards so it would be difficult for many people in hospital to complete online. There will be help from census volunteers to complete the form but friends and family visiting the hospital are asked to assist where possible.”

Do the census at

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Advice for doctors when there’s a complaint

Source: Privacy Commissioner – Press Release/Statement:

Headline: Advice for doctors when there’s a complaint

If you work in a small practice or medical centre, there’s every chance you may not have received many requests for personal information from patients. The starting point is to know that the Privacy Act gives people the right to make a request for information that is about them.

Under the Privacy Act, your practice is legally obligated to respond to that request within 20 working days and to provide the information requested, although the law does allow reasons for withholding the information.

Giving access to information can take several forms. It can mean giving a copy of a document; giving a reasonable opportunity to look at a document, or listen to or view a recording; giving a summary of the information; providing a transcript; or giving the information orally – depending on the requester’s preference.

Pointers for responding to a complaint

But here’s the thing. Failing to respond to a request for personal information can result in a complaint from the requester to the Privacy Commissioner. We hope this never happens to you but in case it does, here are some pointers on how best to engage with us.

  1. The first thing to do is talk to us and to tell us what you know about the complaint and the information that’s requested. Our aim is to try and resolve the matter to the satisfaction of both parties – the complainant and the respondent (your practice). Be nice to us because we’re only doing our jobs. We are not advocates for the complainant.
  2. The second thing to observe is timeliness. Respond as promptly as you can to our requests for information. No one wins in a protracted complaints dispute. If a complaint drags on, it can become stressful, tiring and expensive for your practice and the complainant. There are many benefits in resolving a complaint to prevent it becoming a case before the Human Rights Review Tribunal. This can be an even longer and more costly process and, in the end, the Tribunal could well decide in favour of the complainant and against your practice.
  3. The third point is to remember that our goal is to resolve, not to punish. We’re here to mediate and we do this in a number of ways. One of the techniques we use is to call conferences between both parties, but we’d rather keep things less formal  and resolve them quickly, without a situation escalating.

Tell us in confidence

  1. In order for us to review your decision to withhold information from a requester, we will almost always need to see the information.
  2. When you send us the information, what we are doing is reviewing it to see if we agree with your reasons for not handing it over to the requester.
  3. We are not allowed to disclose the information that is being reviewed and we do not disclose the information.

However, when you give us information to review, it will help us if you can tell us clearly what information is being withheld and the reasons why your practice wants to withhold it.

One example is whether to disclose information about a child to a non-custodial parent. While section 22 of the Health Act permits parents and guardians to request their child’s health information, a health agency, such as a GP, can withhold health information where:

  • the child does not want the information to be disclosed;
  • it would not be in the child’s best interests to disclose the information; or
  • one of the other withholding grounds in the Privacy Act applies.

Looking ahead

We have many resources to help medical practices comply with the Privacy Act. Our website has tools such as AskUs – our online privacy FAQs, the Priv-o-matic privacy statement generator, as well as our free online privacy training modules. We have a range of health brochures (in English and Te Reo). All of these are designed to be used to help make privacy easy.

A starting point is to familiarise yourself with our Quick Tour of the Privacy Principles. It may also be a good idea to display it in the administrative area of your practice to help colleagues and employees understand the obligations and responsibilities that come with holding personal information. This way, when you have an encounter with a privacy issue, you’ll know where to start. And if you need to know more, ask us.

Originally published in NZ Doctor (31 January 2018)

Image credit: Blue and silver stethoscope via Pexels

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Do you really need that information?

Source: Privacy Commissioner – Press Release/Statement:

Headline: Do you really need that information?

Knowledge is power – a cliché, sure, but for a reason. As an agency, the more you know about your clients, the more effective your service can be. It makes sense to gather as much information as possible about the people you interact with. So why wouldn’t you?

Well, the Privacy Act restricts what personal information you can collect and how you can collect it. The Act also obliges you to keep information safe from misuse or unnecessary disclosure, and make sure it’s accurate.

A quick tour of the privacy principles

Personal information is both a valuable asset and a risk, so it’s worth thinking about whether you really need the information you want to collect.

Reasons for collecting personal information

Do I have a legal reason for collecting personal information? Is that reason connected to my agency’s work? You should ask yourself these questions before collecting personal information.

It might be obvious why you need the information at first, but you may find you only need some of it, or you don’t need it at all.

Deciding what to collect

You should only collect the smallest amount of personal information you need to complete a task. Let’s take landlords collecting information from potential tenants as an example. There’s some information you need, such as:

  • basic personal details
  • credit check information
  • details to check references.

But some collection is harder to justify. People have complained to us about landlords asking for:

  • their weekly income information
  • how much they currently pay in rent
  • the value of their belongings
  • their marital status
  • the make, model, and registration number of their vehicles.

It’s not clear how this information would help you decide if someone would be a suitable tenant, and collecting it seems excessive.

Storing information safely

Principle five of the Act requires you to take reasonable steps to secure the personal information you hold from loss, misuse, and disclosure.

What counts as reasonable depends in part on how much information you hold and how sensitive it is. Holding excessive personal information makes data breaches and accidental disclosures more likely and more serious.

Storage and security of personal information (principle five)

Letting people access their information

Principle six entitles people to access the information you hold about them. If you have lots of information, you’re going to get more requests and you’ll need more sophisticated record keeping so you can answer them.

Access to personal information (principle six)

Responding to requests from law enforcement

Sometimes Police or other government agencies ask for information about someone to help them maintain the law. Principle 11 lets you disclose personal information to these agencies if you decide it’s necessary to maintain the law.

Maintenance of the law

This can be a difficult decision, but collecting less information will make it simpler.

Tools to help you

Our website has a lot of information to help you with collecting information and other obligations you have under the Act.

Get started with our Privacy Impact Assessment Toolkit

Your obligations under the Privacy Act

Image credit: Morepork by Duncan Watson via New Zealand Birds Online

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