Selwyn Times: June 14, 2016

SELWYN TIMES Tuesday June 14 2016 17
News
Canty suffering
Margins are tight and Canterbury’s
earthquakes continue
to have a major impact on the
health of Cantabrians, according
to the CDHB’s latest annual
report.
In it, CDHB chairman Murray
Cleverley and chief executive
David Meates detail the impact it
has had, calling it “a population
under strain.”
“Nowhere has this been more
evident than in the demand for
mental health services, which has
increased significantly.”
CDHB mental health statistics
show that post-quake there has
been a 95 per cent increase in
new rural cases, a 79 per cent
increase in new child and youth
cases, a 40 per cent increase in
adult contacts and a 30 per cent
increase in children and youth
under monthly care.
To put those into numbers,
there were 12,046 Canterbury
children under monthly care for
mental health issues, this had
jumped to 13,872 by 2014.
But the even more significant
move is the increase to 15,670
between 2014-2015.
This increase is reflected across
other mental health statistics.
The jump in numbers of people
needing help for mental health issues
is expected
at the five-year
mark, Mental
Health Advocacy
and Peer
Support manager
Sue Ricketts
(left) said.
“At some point
people just can’t deal with it
anymore, and we’re at that point
now.”
The CDHB annual report
stated that the demand for mental
health services is not abating:
“And we don’t, based on international
research on post-disaster
psycho-social recovery, expect it
to for another five to 10 years.”
And earthquakes haven’t just
affected Cantabrians’ health –
they have significantly damaged
health infrastructure too.
BUSY: Christchurch Hospital had 93,700 patients through its
doors in 2014-15.
The quakes left 200 CDHB
buildings damaged, 14,000
hospital rooms damaged and
caused the loss of 14 per cent of
rest home beds and 106 acute
inpatient beds.
Since May 2013, just about
every ward in Christchurch
Hospital has had to be moved to
allow quake repairs, strengthening
and upgrades to firewalls to
take place.
In its annual report, the CDHB
calls it “hugely disruptive . . .
most likely the largest hospital
move ever undertaken in New
Zealand.”
Burwood Hospital’s recent
redevelopment and Christchurch
Hospital’s ongoing one are
part of the largest ever public
health investment in New Zealand.
In total the redevelopment of
both hospitals will cost more
than $650 million, in addition
to $383 million of an earthquake
related programme of works.
The CDHB has seen this as a
unique opportunity to build back
better, to modernise Christchurch’s
health facilities using a
“long life, loose fit” model.
But while there has been an incredible
amount of work to repair
and upgrade hospitals, there has
also been a lot done outside of it
through the Canterbury Clinical
Network.
Its main aim is to keep people
well and in their homes, with a
range of strategies which ultimately
treats more than 30,000
in the community who would
otherwise have to go to the emergency
department or be admitted
to hospital.
Its work has resulted in Canterbury
having an acute admission
rate 30 per cent below the national
average – which means in
Canterbury you are more likely
to have your health needs met
in the community, rather than
hospital, than anywhere else in
the country.
The CDHB says while its environment
has provided challenges,
it has also provided opportunities
to re-orientate its system.
“The Canterbury health system
is internationally recognised as a
leading integrated health system
. . . [but] in spite of many positive
changes to services, this system
remains under pressure.”
Neighbourly under fire
for information sharing
• By Gabrielle Stuart
PRIVACY CONCERNS have
been sparked by the policies
of community network site
Neighbourly, around sharing of
user’s personal information.
To create an account with the
site, people need to give a full
name, address and contact details,
and are also asked to give a
driver’s licence number.
But under the privacy policy,
users’ personal information can
be shared with any of Neighbourly’s
partners.
The partners include businesses
like BP, Vodafone, Contact
and AMI as well as councils
and community groups and
its major shareholder, Fairfax
Media.
But Neighbourly
co-founder
Casey Eden (left)
said that would
not happen without
the permission
of users.
“An example of when member’s
details might be shared
is when a partner is running a
competition. We’ll pass on the
member’s details so this prize
can be distributed, but this is
always outlined in our terms
and conditions.”
He said providing a driver’s
licence was a quick way for
members to verify their profile,
and the contact information was
needed so urgent text message
alerts could be sent around
crime or safety.
Privacy Commissioner spokesman
Charles Mabbett said people
had raised concerns or asked
questions about Neighbourly’s
privacy policy, but that had not
progressed to any formal complaints
or investigations.
He said, ideally, companies
should make keeping your information
private the default and
only share it if people chose to opt
in, but currently that was rare.
He said people needed to be
careful to read the fine print
before they signed up to online
services.
“We would urge people to read
the terms and conditions and see
how their information is being
shared. Then really it comes
down to consent: Do they want
to consent to use that service.”
NetSafe executive director
Martin Cocker said there were
often complaints through its
The Orb online crime reporting
service from people who had
signed up to a service and ended
up being contacted by other
businesses.
He said the privacy policy
was honest in saying how the
information was shared, so
the responsibility was on users
to be aware of what they were
agreeing to, and then decide if
they were comfortable using the
service.
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