Here is a taste of reality that could be from any New Zealand hospital (this is based on one I know of from 2016) to give you a small understanding of the conditions which can never be reproduced, explained or appreciated later in a courtroom.
The doctor working in the emergency department is called to an emergency. Urgent attention is required. In real life, this doctor is already stretched to breaking. They worked very late the day before, didn't get much sleep because of a sick child at home, worked extra shifts all month and hasn't had time to deal with the emotional fallout from the death of a patient days before.
They need to pee, haven't had a drink in five hours and nothing to eat for seven. They are on painkillers for a toothache as they can't find the time to get to the dentist. Crying in toilets at lunchtime? That would be the least of it. And that was all before Covid-19.
When this doctor is accused of making a mistake resulting in harm to someone, their fate will be decided in a nice quiet room, in a "civilised" fashion where no understanding of their true capabilities on that day is considered. They will get the blame. That is what stress in our health services really means. It applies now to all health workers, not just doctors.
TWO AGENDAS
The evidence is strong that agendas such as a feminist one - to take the power from male doctors - and a political one influenced the Cartwright Inquiry and affected its impartiality.
In the 1980s, the New Zealand government was wanting to privatise health services. The later market-orientated health reforms heralded a new era in medicine, where bureaucrats ran the health system, as David Williams, an investigative journalist for Newsroom, wrote in 2021.
This story is from the April 22 - 28 2023 edition of New Zealand Listener.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the April 22 - 28 2023 edition of New Zealand Listener.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Morning songs
On a recent early and glorious Saturday morning - it was 4°C outside I let the complaining chickens out. Chickens never stop complaining.
Upwardly mobile
Climate-friendly e-scooters are proliferating but there are stumbling blocks for users and non-users.
A potent brew
There's a correlation between moderate coffee drinking and reduced risk of colorectal cancer - but evidence of a causal link is still percolating.
Food saviours
A little bit of silliness lightens the mood on the serious topic of food waste.
Ode to old masters
The Polynesian sound and Auckland's ska-punk scene are remembered in new releases.
Weaving Welsh with waiata
Te reo meets Cymraeg in a musical project partly spearheaded by Kawiti Waetford, an opera singer with connections to Wales.
Culture warrior
Activist and scholar Ngahuia te Awek6otuku achieved several firsts in society but had to fight many battles to get there.
An age-old problem
Is our lifespan fixed, or might we be able to slow down or even abolish ageing? And what would we do if we could?
When Jim becomes James
'What would white people do to a slave who had learned to read?' This impressive reimagining of Huckleberry Finn seeks to find out.
Manhattan transfer
A Kiwi movie star led the charge for an Anzac garden atop New York's Rockefeller Centre that's still in use today.