Hon Tony Ryall
Minister of Health


18 February 2013 Media Statement
Better care for Taranaki cancer patients

Taranaki cancer patients and their families will have better support thanks to the appointment of a dedicated cancer nurse who will coordinate and streamline patient care.

Health Minister Tony Ryall says the specialist nurse, who starts work at Taranaki District Health Board (DHB) today, is one of 40 dedicated cancer nurses who are expected to be working in public hospitals throughout the country by the end of May.

“The Government is investing $4 million a year to ensure every DHB has at least one full time dedicated cancer nurse, as part of its commitment to provide better and faster cancer services,” says Mr Ryall.

“The specialist nurses will act as a single point of contact so patients and their families no longer have to deal with multiple people from different parts of the health service.

“Nursing has warmly welcomed this new role, which will vastly improve the treatment experience for patients by reducing delays, stress and duplication.

“This is not a one-size-fits-all approach. DHBs have all carefully considered how best to tailor the role to achieve the biggest benefit for their patients.”

“In Taranaki, the nurse will coordinate care for patients in the area who are diagnosed with cancer, and work with doctors and other health professionals to ensure patients receive seamless treatment in the fastest possible time.”

A national clinical nurse lead will be appointed later this month to support the cancer nurses and promote service improvements.

The funding of cancer nurse coordinators was announced in Budget 2012 as part of a $33 million funding package aimed at further improving cancer services.

________________________________________

© Scoop Media

Arguably Reassuring: Inspector-General Finds GCSB "Arguably" Legal

Of the 88 individuals:

• 15 cases involving 22 individuals did not have any information intercepted by GCSB.

• another four cases involving five individuals were the subjects of a New Zealand Security Intelligence Service warrant and the GCSB assisted in the execution of the warrants. The Inspector-General is of the view that there were arguably no breaches and the law is unclear.

• the Bureau only provided technical assistance which did not involve interception of communications, involving three of the individuals, so no breach occurred.

• the remaining cases involved the collection of metadata, and the Inspector-General formed the view that there had arguably been no breach, noting once again that the law is unclear.
More>>