AGP Executive Report

Respiratory Care: Hospitalisations for respiratory disease rose 16% between 2022 and 2025, reaching 97,151. Children under 15 and adults over 65 accounted for about 70% of admissions; the report urges funding the RSV vaccine from April 2027. Paediatric Workforce: Just nine paediatric respiratory doctors serve the country, based in only two regions, fuelling calls over a postcode lottery in care. Surgeons are also urging parties to plan and retain the workforce for the long term. Health Equity: Māori are five times more likely to develop tuberculosis than other New Zealanders, prompting calls for urgent health-system change. Pacific Wellbeing: A Mental Health Foundation promoter says cultural connection can support Pacific mental health, though one in five Pacific people experiences high psychological distress. Vaccination: WHO warns that gaps in Western Pacific immunisation risk outbreaks; a new measles case in New Zealand has renewed attention on vaccination coverage.

Health Workforce: Health New Zealand managers at Counties Manukau plan 14 days of partial strike action from October 27 after 15 months of bargaining without a formal offer. Children’s Care: A national audit found just nine public paediatric respiratory specialists, all based in Auckland and Christchurch, leaving 14 regions without dedicated services. Patient Safety: The Health and Disability Commissioner says a hospital missed opportunities to detect sepsis in a four-year-old boy, who died days after a bike fall. Separately, an investigation into alleged systemic hospital failures has reported back, but its findings remain under review and have no release date. Primary Care: General Practitioners Aotearoa warns National’s fiscal plan lacks clear funding for GPs, as the party faces election pressure over access and staffing. Health Equity: Researchers say about 200,000 people have no GP, around half Māori, and cost remains a barrier to care; they argue enduring inequities require structural change. ADHD Access: A new online clinic says it is conducting hundreds of assessments weekly, eight months after prescribing rules were eased for specialist GPs and nurse practitioners.

Patient Safety: A four-year-old boy died at Wellington Hospital after sepsis was not recognised promptly. The Health and Disability Commissioner found missed opportunities to identify his deterioration and said care breached patients’ rights, while noting it is unclear whether earlier treatment would have changed the outcome. Disability Support: The Mental Health Foundation says ACT’s proposed cuts of more than $650 million to disability benefits are poorly researched and risk harming people who need support. Health Workforce: A Horowhenua clinic has very limited in-person appointments after 12 staff resigned over the past year, while Māori nursing leader Kerri Nuku warns of a worsening workforce crisis and growing inequities. Infectious Disease: A new measles case in New Zealand has renewed concern about vaccination gaps in the Pacific. Cancer Outlook: A new study projects annual breast cancer diagnoses in New Zealand could rise by 47%, sharpening the focus on prevention, screening and treatment capacity.

Health Funding: National’s election plan provides $14.57 billion over four years for health cost pressures, compared with Labour’s $13.02 billion. Labour is also promising free GP visits, scans and prescriptions, while National has ruled out tax cuts for now. Primary Care: In Levin, Taitoko Health has lost 12 staff, including four GPs, in a year. Its last GP has resigned, and in-person appointments for its 4,500 patients are now very limited. Measles Alert: A travel-linked case in Wellington has prompted contact tracing and renewed calls for families to check children’s MMR vaccinations, amid concern about gaps in Pacific communities. Household Health: A survey found 31% of households experienced food insecurity in the past year, with hardship especially common among single-parent families, Pacific communities, disabled people and renters. Breast Cancer Support: More than 9,600 volunteers will collect donations across Aotearoa on 16–17 October to fund education, research, nursing support and advocacy for earlier diagnosis.

Election Health Policies: Labour is promising three free GP visits a year and a capital gains tax ring-fenced for health. ACT says frontline health spending would be protected, while its plan would cut disability support by $653 million over four years. Infection Control: Norovirus has affected three North Shore rest homes and a hospital ward, prompting concern for vulnerable residents and patients. Safe Sleep: New Ministry of Health guidelines aim to prevent sudden unexpected death in infancy; about 44 babies die from SUDI each year, with Māori and Pacific whānau disproportionately affected. The Government allocates $5.1 million annually for safe-sleep devices and prevention support. Ageing and Vaccines: New Zealand scientists are working on vaccines that could be more effective for older people, as immune responses weaken with age. Māori Health: Researchers say TB elimination efforts are failing Māori and are calling for a Māori-specific strategy. HPV vaccination uptake is also lagging, with sexual-health myths hampering the school rollout.

Hospital Safety: An 81-year-old pneumonia patient was placed in a North Shore Hospital visitors’ room without oxygen, suction or a working call bell, his family says. He was moved after his condition worsened. Heart Research: Christchurch researchers are studying people nearing 50 to identify early signs of heart disease, using detailed scans, ECGs and blood tests. Election Health Plans: Labour has promised three free GP visits a year and to scrap the $5 prescription charge. Māori Health: Researchers are calling for a Māori-specific plan to eliminate tuberculosis after finding rates among Māori were more than five times those among New Zealand-born Europeans, alongside gaps in screening and support. Infection Control: Norovirus has affected three North Shore rest homes and a hospital ward. Children’s Health: A Healthy Homes initiative has been linked to 30% fewer child hospitalisations over five years, while HPV vaccination uptake remains low amid sexual-health myths.

Vaccination: WHO warns that gaps in Western Pacific immunisation are raising outbreak risks, while New Zealand has confirmed a Wellington measles case linked to overseas travel. HPV vaccine uptake is also lagging, with sexual health myths hindering the school rollout. Outbreaks: Norovirus has affected three North Shore rest homes and a hospital ward. Heart Health: University of Auckland researchers have received $2.32 million for eight heart-health projects, including work on smartphone-based screening. Healthcare Access: Nursing shortages are an election issue, with calls to consider compulsory patient ratios; a new report also warns children’s dental services are underfunded. Prevention: A five-year study links the Healthy Homes Initiative to 30% fewer hospitalisations among children.

HPV Vaccination: Uptake remains incomplete, with 252 of 1,479 participating schools yet to record a dose this year. Health NZ is planning a campaign to frame the vaccine clearly as cancer prevention and help eligible young people catch up. Infection Watch: A norovirus outbreak has affected three rest homes and a hospital ward on Auckland’s North Shore. Wellington has also confirmed a measles case linked to overseas travel, prompting public health advice for people who visited affected locations. Health Workforce: Nursing shortages are emerging as an election issue, with calls to consider compulsory patient-to-nurse ratios. Tauranga is also facing a projected shortfall in aged-care beds. Child Health: A five-year study linked the Healthy Homes Initiative to 30% fewer hospitalisations among children, highlighting the health gains from warmer, drier housing. Mental Wellbeing: Exercise New Zealand says two-thirds of Kiwis exercise partly for their mental health, making wellbeing a major motivation for getting active. Medicinal Research: NZ-listed Rua Bioscience is set to supply medicinal MDMA to PharmAla for potential PTSD treatment, adding to interest in regulated psychedelic medicines.

Infection Control: Norovirus cases have spread across three North Shore rest homes and a ward at North Shore Hospital, Health New Zealand says. Medicinal Drugs: Rua Bioscience has partnered with Canadian firm PharmAla to import and distribute pharmaceutical-grade MDMA in New Zealand, adding a second regulated medicine to its portfolio. Nursing Workforce: Staffing shortages and compulsory patient ratios are emerging as election issues, amid calls for stronger support for Pacific health services. Child Health: A five-year evaluation linked the Healthy Homes Initiative to 30% fewer child hospitalisations. Measles Alert: Wellington’s latest measles case was linked to overseas travel, with the infected person reported to have visited locations in the Hutt Valley. Care Access: A new report warns that underfunding is putting children’s dental services at risk.

Measles Alert: A new Wellington case has been linked to recent overseas travel, renewing concern about imported infections. Dunedin Dermatology: A cancer patient is urging Parliament to restore permanent, in-person public dermatology services, after going nearly three years without a diagnosis; Dunedin currently has no public dermatology service. Healthy Homes: A five-year evaluation found the initiative was linked to 30% fewer child hospitalisations, highlighting the health benefits of warmer, drier homes. Māori TB: Researchers say efforts to eliminate tuberculosis are failing Māori and are calling for a Māori-specific strategy. PTSD Treatment: Rua Bioscience will import and distribute pharmaceutical-grade MDMA for authorised prescribers, following Medsafe approval for two psychiatrists to prescribe it for PTSD.

Measles Alert: Wellington has confirmed a new measles case linked to overseas travel. Pacific Health: Gout medicine can cost as little as $5, but Pacific families face major barriers to care, including difficulty getting GP appointments and time off work. Children’s Dentistry: A new report says some children wait years between dental visits, with staff shortages and underinvestment leaving children in pain. Mental Health: Provisional figures record 602 suspected suicide deaths in the year to June, a rate of 10.5 per 100,000, down from 11 the year before. The Mental Health Foundation says timely, culturally responsive support remains vital. Care Pressures: Wellington Hospital’s emergency department has been at code red half the time since March, while southern colonoscopy delays and rising regional eating-disorder cases add to concerns about access.

Health Costs: Health NZ says tourists and migrants owe more than $70 million for public care, with at least a quarter unlikely to be recovered. Children’s Dental Care: A new report warns underfunding and staff shortages are leaving some children waiting years for appointments, even when they are in pain. Community Care: Home support workers say fuel costs are making some visits financially unsustainable; their union says a promised mileage-rate review is overdue. Election Health Plans: National has pledged $604 million for Pharmac and cancer screening, funded partly by cutting foreign aid outside the Pacific. Pharmacy Services: A health company is seeking rule changes to let pharmacists treat common conditions, while community pharmacy advocates urge parties to protect the sector. Injecting Safety: Needle exchanges are rationing syringes amid a surge in people injecting unapproved peptides.

Election Health: National says it would cut foreign aid to increase Pharmac funding and expand cancer screening, putting health policy at the centre of the campaign. Pacific Health: Auckland research finds lupus is isolating Pacific women, with some withdrawing from family, church and community life as illness and shame take a toll. Access and Costs: Health NZ is chasing $70 million in unpaid bills from tourists and migrants, while eating-disorder services struggle to meet rising regional demand and the cost of care remains a barrier. Addiction Support: New funding will grow peer-led community services as research reports cocaine use has tripled in New Zealand since 2017. Health Legacy: Māori health pioneer Emeritus Professor Colin Mantell has died; he helped build pathways for Māori and Pasifika into the health workforce.

Mental Health & Addiction Funding: The NZ Drug Foundation will receive government money to expand local peer-led SMART Recovery support, training community facilitators so people can join meetings without waiting for a referral. Hospital Infrastructure: Middlemore Hospital’s leaky building repairs are underway on a $28.5m remediation programme, including work to keep the emergency department, ICU and national burns unit operating through the rebuild. Online Safety Support: Netsafe and ignite Aotearoa are launching a free counselling pilot for people distressed by sextortion and image-based abuse, offering up to three funded sessions. Health Access & Costs: Health NZ is pursuing about $70m in unpaid bills from tourists and migrants, while a separate report highlights complex questions around who pays for life-saving dialysis for overseas patients. Workforce & Equity: A former equal pay commissioner says Pacific women have waited long enough for fair pay, as election debate continues over restoring the Equal Pay Act framework. Cancer & Early Onset: New research points to rising cancers in younger adults, with scientists looking beyond genetics at modern environmental and lifestyle exposures. Patient Safety Warning: Doctors warn patients who use GLP-1 jabs or illegal peptides must disclose before surgery, citing a major increase in aspiration/regurgitation risk under anaesthetic. Local Health Leadership: AQA and MinEx have appointed Denise Mackay as new CEO, strengthening health and safety leadership in the extractives sector.

Medicines access push: Aotearoa medicines advocate says National’s extra $604m for Pharmac would help but still won’t close the medicines gap, arguing for a sustainable longer-term funding plan. Workforce planning: RACS is urging election commitments to grow and retain New Zealand’s surgical workforce, warning that training places alone won’t fix capacity without funded roles, supervision and retention pathways. Aged care safety in court: The Loafers Lodge fire manslaughter trial continues, with prosecutors alleging directors neglected fire safety duties and defence arguing responsibilities sat with council and other agencies. AI governance for health data: OpenAI and Anthropic told an Australian inquiry they support mandatory rules for disclosing serious AI-caused data breaches, after a Medicare breach raised questions about notification delays. Public health and wellbeing: A longevity doctor promotes “10 commandments” for healthier ageing that focus on basics rather than costly supplements. Regional health-linked growth: The Government signed a 10-year Otago Central Lakes deal covering housing, infrastructure and commitments including health, aiming to ease pressure from rapid population growth.

Pharmac & cancer care funding fight: National says it will lift Pharmac’s medicines budget by $604m and expand cancer screening, funded by cutting foreign aid outside the Pacific (while protecting Pacific aid), drawing sharp pushback from NZ First as “dangerous” and “desperate.” Prostate screening push: The Prostate Cancer Foundation backs the proposed prostate cancer screening pilot, saying earlier detection could save lives and urging it be properly designed and evidence-based. Drug harms in the spotlight: New research reports New Zealanders are using nearly 7kg of cocaine a week (and meth use remains high), with lower prices and greater acceptance driving a steep rise. Equity in healthcare choices: Choosing Wisely warns that new health campaigns must not widen inequities, citing Māori and Pacific children’s higher rheumatic fever risk and the need for swabbing and antibiotics when appropriate. Community fitness access: CityFitness and the Meke Foundation are expanding free community “fitness pods” to tackle cost, transport and access barriers to exercise in deprived areas. Mental health focus: The Mental Health Foundation is gearing up for Mental Health Awareness Week (12–18 Oct), linking loneliness and trust to wellbeing and urging small connection steps. Workforce & safety: Unions return to the Employment Relations Authority seeking to halt FENZ’s restructure, arguing it was unlawfully carried out and could affect staff and conditions. Violence & health system strain: A week of serious violence has left communities on edge, with experts pointing to mental health and addiction support gaps. Clinical education accountability: University of Otago grants terms to 50 medical students who missed elective attendance, requiring remedial community work and delaying December graduation.