The principal scientific journal for the profession in New Zealand

Vol 136 No 1576: 26 May 2023

Time for action, not words: the urgent rebuilding of New Zealand’s mental health workforce

Editorial
Open Access

Time for action, not words: the urgent rebuilding of New Zealand’s mental health workforce

There is overwhelming agreement that New Zealand faces a health workforce crisis, although one might argue that, like our workforce, the word “crisis” is getting worn out from overuse.

Article
Open Access

The impact of COVID-19 restrictions on acute hospital presentations due to alcohol-related harm in Waitematā Auckland, New Zealand | OPEN ACCESS

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that this pandemic has led to a 25% increase in the prevalence of anxiety and depression globally. With considerable additional mental health burden, it has been widely reported that alcohol sales and use have increased during this time.

Clinical Correspondence
Open Access

Bottle gourd toxicity: the bitter truth of being green-thumbed

A 66-year-old Vietnam-born New Zealander was admitted to General Medicine via the Emergency Department with a diarrhoeal illness following the ingestion of bottle gourd, which he had grown in his garden and cooked by stir-fry.

Article
Open Access

Aotearoa New Zealand Deaf women’s perspectives on breast and cervical cancer screening.

Since the introduction of the cervical and breast screening programmes in Aotearoa New Zealand, mortality rates have dropped for cervical cancer and breast cancer. While both programmes track women’s engagement, neither capture details regarding Deaf women who are New Zealand Sign Language users.

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ARTICLE
Vol 136 No 1576: 26 May

Aotearoa New Zealand Deaf women’s perspectives on breast and cervical cancer screening.

Deborah A Payne, Agnes Terraschke, Karen Yoshida, Victoria A Osasah

Since the introduction of the cervical and breast screening programmes in Aotearoa New Zealand, mortality rates have dropped for cervical cancer and breast cancer. While both programmes track women’s engagement, neither capture details regarding Deaf women who are New Zealand Sign Language users.

ARTICLE
Vol 136 No 1576: 26 May

The incidence of juvenile onset recurrent respiratory papillomatosis at Starship Children’s Hospital before and after a national HPV vaccination programme: a retrospective review

Dora Blair, Evelyn Lamble, Graeme van der Meer, Edward Toll, Craig McCaffer, Colin Barber, Nikki Mills, Michel Neeff

Juvenile onset recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (JRRP) is a rare and often chronic disease. It is characterised by benign but potentially aggressive recurring laryngeal epithelial lesions caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV), most likely by vertical transmission.

ARTICLE
Vol 136 No 1576: 26 May

The impact of COVID-19 restrictions on acute hospital presentations due to alcohol-related harm in Waitematā Auckland, New Zealand | OPEN ACCESS

Cameron Schauer, Joshua Quon, Pravin Potdar, Ashwin Singh, Dean Croft, Michael Wang

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that this pandemic has led to a 25% increase in the prevalence of anxiety and depression globally. With considerable additional mental health burden, it has been widely reported that alcohol sales and use have increased during this time.

ARTICLE
Vol 136 No 1576: 26 May

Hypospadias, cryptorchidism and breast cancer in children born to New Zealand servicemen who served in Malaya and may have had exposure to dibutyl phthalate: review of a previous study and updated review of international literature

J Mark Elwood

New Zealand soldiers serving in the “Emergency” in Malaya in 1948–1960 painted the seams of their uniforms, made of cotton, with a liquid containing dibutyl phthalate (DBP) to prevent them being bitten by trombiculid mites (chiggers, e.g., Eutrombicula hirsti), which carry the scrub typhus pathogen (Orientia tsutsugamushi).

ARTICLE
Vol 136 No 1576: 26 May

Health professionals’ understanding and attitude towards the End of Life Choice Act 2019: a secondary analysis of Manatū Hauora – Ministry of Health workforce surveys

Aida Dehkhoda, Rosemary Frey, Melissa Carey, Xuepeng Jing, Susan Bull, Frederick Sundram, Nicholas R Hoeh, David Menkes, Jacqualine Robinson, Gary Cheung

As of January 2023, Aotearoa New Zealand is among the 25 jurisdictions/countries that have legalised assisted dying (AD).

ARTICLE
Vol 136 No 1575: 12 May 2023

The impact of AI and ChatGPT on research reporting

Zubair M Mojadeddi, Jacob Rosenberg

Since the launch of ChatGPT, it has garnered the attention of many people worldwide, including biomedical researchers, as it appears to be able to substantially assist in the reporting process of biomedical research (article writing).

ARTICLE
Vol 136 No 1575: 12 May 2023

Psychosocial care in DHB-based stroke services in Aotearoa: a survey of current practice

Felicity A S Bright, John Davison, Ginny Abernethy

Stroke is increasingly common in Aotearoa New Zealand. It is the third most common cause of death and disability, with around 9,000 New Zealanders being affected by stroke each year. Despite the incidence of strokes declining, as the population ages, the number of strokes is anticipated to increase, with a corresponding increase in the number of people living with stroke.

ARTICLE
Vol 136 No 1575: 12 May 2023

Evolution of sentinel lymph node biopsy for breast cancer patients in a rural setting: 10 years’ experience

Anthony W K Lau, Vanessa L Lau, Magdalena M Sakowska

Sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy is the standard axillary staging procedure for early breast cancer and is undertaken when a patient is clinically and radiologically lymph node negative. Dual localisation of SLN with both radioisotope and patent blue dye is superior to single agent and has a lower false-negative rate. Its universal uptake, however, is limited as it requires access to a nuclear medicine department or a radioactive licence.

ARTICLE
Vol 136 No 1575: 12 May 2023

Invasive group A streptococcal disease in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand: epidemiology, manifestations and impact

Johanna M Birrell, Bridget Wilson, Susan Taylor, Julie Bennett

Group A streptococcus (GAS) can cause a range of clinical syndromes, including superficial infections such as pharyngitis and impetigo, post-streptococcal immunological complications such as acute rheumatic fever and glomerulonephritis, and invasive infections. The direct costs of GAS-related disease in New Zealand have been estimated at almost 30 million NZD (2015 costs) per year.

ARTICLE
Vol 136 No 1575: 12 May 2023

Acute otolaryngological presentations in Northland, New Zealand: analysed with respect to geography and rurality

Chelsea L Heaven, Matthew James McGuinness, Subhaschandra Shetty

Rural patients face greater barriers to healthcare compared to those in urban centres. These include long travel distances, lack of access to transport, telecommunication, increased costs, higher levels of deprivation, and wider socio-economic factors.

EDITORIAL
Vol 136 No 1576: 26 May

Time for action, not words: the urgent rebuilding of New Zealand’s mental health workforce

James A Foulds, Ben Beaglehole, Roger T Mulder

There is overwhelming agreement that New Zealand faces a health workforce crisis, although one might argue that, like our workforce, the word “crisis” is getting worn out from overuse.

EDITORIAL
Vol 136 No 1575: 12 May 2023

Time for New Zealand to ban direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription medicines

David B Menkes, Barbara Mintzes, Joel Lexchin

The New Zealand government is this year developing a new Therapeutic Products Bill to replace the antiquated Medicines Act 1981. Among the many issues at stake is whether direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription medicines will continue to be permitted.

EDITORIAL
Vol 136 No 1574: 28 April 2023

Optimal trauma care delivers cost savings: the New Zealand Trauma Network experience

Ian Civil, Siobhan Isles

The nature of healthcare delivery in New Zealand means that it is often difficult to quantitate the financial benefits to the system for any quality improvement initiative. Trauma is an exception in that it is not only provided by the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) on a bulk-funded basis for prehospital and acute care but also on a fee-for-service basis for rehabilitation.

EDITORIAL
Vol 136 No 1574: 28 April 2023

How does the HDC Code apply in the context of delays?

Morag McDowell

There is no doubt the health and disability sector is currently under significant pressure. This pressure, together with issues introduced by the COVID-19 pandemic, has been reflected in an unprecedented increase in complaints to the Health and Disability Commissioner (HDC).

EDITORIAL
Vol 136 No 1573: 14 April 2023

Superheated storms: climate drivers, health effects and responses

Rhys Jones, Alex Macmillan, Alistair Woodward

The first 2 months of 2023 brought unprecedented rainfall and flooding to the North Island of Aotearoa New Zealand, especially Tāmaki Makaurau, the Coromandel, Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay.

EDITORIAL
Vol 136 No 1572: 24 March 2023

Ethnic inequities in health in Aotearoa New Zealand—an international embarrassment

Collin Tukuitonga

Socio-economic disadvantage is responsible for much of the ethnic inequities in health seen in Aotearoa New Zealand. Combined with poor access to healthcare, sub-standard quality of care provided, racism and systemic bias, these factors result in chronic inequities and poor health outcomes for Pasifika and Māori people.

EDITORIAL
Vol 136 No 1571: 10 March 2023

Protecting school communities from COVID-19 and other infectious disease outbreaks: the urgent need for healthy schools in Aotearoa New Zealand

Amanda Kvalsvig, Belinda Tuari-Toma, Carmen Timu-Parata, Julie Bennett, Claire Sinnema, Jennifer Summers, Cheryl Davies, Constanza Jackson, Andrew Dickson, Lucy Telfar Barnard, Michael G Baker

Aotearoa New Zealand’s Omicron outbreaks demonstrated that widespread COVID-19 transmission in schools is harmful to both health and education.

VIEWPOINT
Vol 136 No 1576: 26 May

The ownership elephant is becoming a mammoth: a policy focus on ownership is needed to transform Aotearoa New Zealand’s health system

Johanna Reidy, Don Matheson, Rawiri Keenan, Peter Crampton

Ownership is an important policy tool within health systems. It significantly influences structural arrangements and the political economy of the health sector, its culture and health outcomes.

VIEWPOINT
Vol 136 No 1575: 12 May 2023

Inclusive medical education for students with disabilities: a new guidance document from Medical Deans Australia and New Zealand

Dabrina Issakhany, Peter Crampton, members of the Medical Deans Inherent Requirements Review Working Group

In both New Zealand’s medical schools, and in medical schools in Australia, there are ongoing efforts to increase the representativeness of medical student cohorts, with the aim of ensuring that they better reflect the different communities they will serve, particularly in terms of ethnicity, rural background and socio-economic background.

VIEWPOINT
Vol 136 No 1574: 28 April 2023

Constraints on medication-based inflammatory bowel disease therapy in Aotearoa New Zealand —why medication adherence is important

Obreniokibo I Amiesimaka, Rhiannon Braund, Kristina Aluzaite, Michael Schultz

In New Zealand, the yearly cumulative direct and indirect (loss of productivity etc.) costs of IBD amounted to approximately $245 million NZD, as at 2017, and costs are likely to have risen since then with increased prevalence and general economic inflation.

VIEWPOINT
Vol 136 No 1573: 14 April 2023

A further look into obtaining informed consent for medical students

Ekta Bagga, Edmund Leung

We read the recent article by Bhoopatkar et al., Adherence to a national consensus statement on informed consent: medical students’ experience of obtaining informed consent from patients for sensitive examinations, with great interest but also serious concerns regarding the quality and outcome of the findings.

VIEWPOINT
Vol 136 No 1572: 24 March 2023

Empagliflozin and dulaglutide: community awareness project promotes improved access to newly funded medications for Pacific patients with type 2 diabetes

Gerhard Sundborn, Fale Lesa, Graham King, Kate Vennell, Henry Kozak, Karen Pickering, John Baker

Poorer health outcomes have persisted among Māori and Pacific people with type 2 diabetes for more than 20 years. In response to this, more effective and equitable management of type 2 diabetes in New Zealand has been urged by health professionals and health academics.

VIEWPOINT
Vol 136 No 1572: 24 March 2023

The need to nurture Aotearoa New Zealand’s healthcare workforce | OPEN ACCESS

Elizabeth Fenton, Cervantée E K Wild, José G B Derraik, Cameron Grant, Yvonne Anderson

Like many countries, Aotearoa New Zealand is in the midst of a health workforce crisis. Long-term staff shortages across health professions have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has significantly increased stressors experienced by the workforce, both here and globally.

VIEWPOINT
Vol 136 No 1571: 10 March 2023

Cardiac complications of COVID-19 infection | OPEN ACCESS

Sharan Randhawa, Ammar J Alsamarrai, Simon Lee, Jithendra B Somaratne

New Zealand’s initial years of the pandemic were characterised by a low prevalence of COVID-19 compared to other developed nations, but the country has since witnessed discrete periods of widespread community transmission, the most recent of which was the February 2022 Omicron variant outbreak. As of November 2022, there have been almost two million recorded cases of COVID-19 infection in New Zealand, representing approximately 40% of the total population, of which there were 2,212 deaths.

LETTER
Vol 136 No 1576: 26 May

An initial exploration into the benefits of a proactive post-COVID-19 health check | OPEN ACCESS

Fiona Pienaar, Ruth Large

While the sequelae of COVID infection has been given various names, in December 2022 the World Health Organization (WHO) defined the post-COVID-19 condition (commonly known as long COVID) as “the continuation or development of new symptoms 3 months after the initial SARS-CoV-2 infection, with these symptoms lasting for at least 2 months with no other explanation.”

LETTER
Vol 136 No 1576: 26 May

Emergency department point-of-care ultrasound in forearm fracture management

Andrew Russell Munro

Shaye Seefried et al., in their paper Paediatric forearm fractures manipulated in the emergency department: incidence and risk factors for re-manipulation under general anaesthesia, show a high rate of reduction failure in forearm fractures in children in the Starship Hospital Emergency Department (ED).

LETTER
Vol 136 No 1574: 28 April 2023

Vaping in Aotearoa New Zealand teens remains problematic: stronger regulations and education warranted

Jonathan Cox, Ben Wamamili, Philip Pattemore

E-cigarette use (vaping) by Aotearoa New Zealand youth continues to trend upwards. Vapes are promoted in Aotearoa New Zealand as a less harmful source of nicotine for current smokers who have unsuccessfully attempted to quit. However, non-smokers face increased risks if they begin to vape.

LETTER
Vol 136 No 1574: 28 April 2023

Prehabilitation for patients with cancer in Aotearoa New Zealand

Hanna van Waart, Marta Seretny

Historically, rest and outright inactivity were recommended for patients with cancer. However, over the last two decades research has highlighted the benefits of physical activity during the cancer continuum, so much so that the American College of Sports Medicine is running an ‘Exercise Is Medicine’ initiative.

LETTER
Vol 136 No 1573: 14 April 2023

Amoebic colitis masquerading as inflammatory bowel disease for a decade

Sailish Honap, Simon Anderson

Entamoeba histolytica colitis is a classical inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) mimic. Although early misdiagnosis is common, diagnostic delay for a decade, including prolonged immunosuppressive therapy, is rare.

LETTER
Vol 136 No 1572: 24 March 2023

Consent for teaching—response to Rennie et al.

Ben Gray

I agree with Rennie et al.; patient autonomy is important. Central to this debate is the tension between the ideal, what is happening and what is possible.

LETTER
Vol 136 No 1570: 17 February 2023

Welcoming the Medical Council’s review of doctors and health-related commercial organisations: more is needed to ensure financial factors never influence patient care

Adrian Balasingam

In September 2022, the Medical Council of New Zealand released a consultation paper suggesting that referrals to a facility where a doctor has a financial interest should only occur where there is no suitable alternative that meets the patient’s needs. As independent radiologists, we strongly believe that financial factors should never influence decisions relating to patient care.

BOOK REVIEW
Vol 135 No 1550: 25 February 2022

This pākehā life: an unsettled memoir

Kaaren Mathias

This pākehā life: an unsettled memoir is a candid memoir by Alison Jones, who currently is a Professor in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland in the school of Māori and Indigenous Education, Te Puna Wānanga.

BOOK REVIEW
Vol 134 No 1532: 26 March 2021

Perfection: The life and times of Sir William Manchester

Saxon Connor

I recently spent a weekend in Martinborough and as many people do spent some time browsing the local bookshop.

BOOK REVIEW
Vol 133 No 1527: 18 December 2020

From Southland to Surgery: A Journey around Values

Richard Acland

Professor John Morton has not only written an intriguing catalogue of the Christchurch surgical scene in the latter part of the 20th century, but has also provided a well-considered philosophy for medical care.

BOOK REVIEW
Vol 133 No 1521: 4 September 2020

My Life in Public Health

Frank Frizelle

In the time of Covid, some of the superheroes of the health sector are the public health physicians. This book outlines the active and varied personal and professional life of one New Zealand public health physician.

BOOK REVIEW
Vol 132 No 1489: 1 February 2019

Mind That Child; A Medical Memoir

Frank Frizelle

This a book that recounts the experience of the Auckland Starship’s paediatrician Dr Simon Rowley over his professional lifetime.

BOOK REVIEW
Vol 132 No 1488: 18 January 2019

The Art of Recovery: six personal journeys

Frank Frizelle

As an editor you receive books for review, which are sent to suitable people following an email agreement to review.

BOOK REVIEW
Vol 132 No 1488: 18 January 2019

Fat Off; the Right Way A clever and sustainable eating guide for weight loss and healthy living

Frank Frizelle

Paul Anderson is a New Zealander who trained in general surgery and works part-time in Australia and part-time in New Zealand.

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