Stories by Ruth Hill
News
Family of 8yo with brain cancer told to 'prepare for the worst'
Eight-year-old Lachie Love knows there is "an egg in his head". But he has not been explicitly told that it is a rare and incurable brain tumour.
Hearing, vision tests for students lead to 'significant transformation'
Wearing glasses for the first time or getting their hearing problems treated had been life changing for students at Edmund Hillary School - both inside and outside the classroom, according to…
Election could bring massive change for Māori health services
Māori health services are waiting nervously for the election, after National and ACT pledged to scrap the independent Māori Health Authority.
Telehealth workers strike for second time
Telehealth workers have been on a 24-hour strike over pay rates - their second in a month.
Report into Covid-19 response advises masks in some settings
New Zealand's restrictions during the pandemic saved the lives of about 20,000 people, according to new research.
Doctors told to stop referring women to specialists unless their condition is urgent
Specialists and family doctors say this is becoming common practice, as hospital services nationwide become increasingly overwhelmed.
Rest homes forced to sedate dementia patients due to lack of psychiatrists
Alternatively, elderly patients with dementia are being housed in general psychiatric inpatient units - a risk to their safety, advocates say.
'Covid is not done with us': Coronavirus and its impact on immunity
Covid infections are putting people at higher risk of diabetes, strokes, heart disease and other long-term illnesses - but experts warn it may be decades before the full impact is known.
Hospitals still 'very busy' with winter bugs
While Covid-19 cases were down this winter, doctors say other viruses have swarmed in - and babies and preschoolers have been the worst hit.
Overseas-trained doctors working for call centres, Uber
The 12-year medical career of an Indian doctor counts for "almost nothing" as she is struggling to get registered in New Zealand. Audio
Staff at two Auckland hospitals hit panic buttons, called security thousands of times
Violence and abuse by patients and visitors have forced staff at North Shore and Waitākere hospitals to call security or hit panic buttons thousands of times within a seven-month period.
Lauren Dickason case puts spotlight on maternal mental health
A psychiatrist treating perinatal depression and anxiety says the adversarial legal system is not well equipped to deal with cases like that of Lauren Dickason.
Warning of more defections as practice nurses, midwives accept pay deal
Thousands of general practice nurses and other health workers in primary care have voted to accept the government's pay offer.
Push for more post-mortem scans to help cut stillbirth rate
Clinicians say post-mortem scanning could save babies' lives in future - but it is not an option in many regions.
Local clinicians to be used to recruit at international medical conferences
Te Whatu Ora is setting out to woo more overseas-trained specialists to move to New Zealand by targeting international medical conferences, using local clinicians to do the sweet-talking.
Not enough trainees to replace thinning ranks of senior doctors - union
Acute shortages of trainee specialists are fuelling burnout among senior hospital doctors, whose own ranks are thinning. Audio
More GPs urgently needed, change recommended to primary care funding - report
The "accountability-free" funding for general practice is fuelling the decline in GP work hours and the significant decrease in the GP-to-population ratio, according to new report.
Widening pay gap between GP and hospital nurses 'extraordinarily distressing'
The College of GPs president says it's distressing for practices already struggling to keep nurses that the gap with hospital nurses has widened again.
More younger people seen with colorectal cancers prompts call for change
A group of doctors and researchers argue screening should start at 45 for the general population and 40 for Māori and Pasifika.
Number of children waiting longer than four months for hospital help jumps by 600 percent
Waiting is a way of life for Kylee Ostermann and her 11-year-old son Alex, who has multiple disabilities. Audio
Concerns Massey University cuts will worsen critical shortage of language therapists
The university reported an $8.8 million deficit last year. It said there were no current proposals to close the degree programme for therapists but described it as "unsustainable". Audio
'The kids are catching everything' - Winter ailments plague families
It has been a winter from hell for Lower Hutt mother "Jane", whose four children have had Covid, RSV and two strains of the flu since mid May.
Eye specialists warn health system restructure has stalled moves to standardise care
Ophthalmologists say work on national treatment guidelines has been caught up in red tape. Audio
'We created a wraparound awhi of them' - Aunties mentor Pacific midwives
It may take a village to raise a child - but it needs a whole lot of "aunties" to grow a new generation of midwives.
'I couldn't believe how much they relied on students to fill gaps'
Some midwifery students have told RNZ the workload and conditions have caused them to rethink their career choice.