Waikato Business News April/May 2023

16 WAIKATO
WAIKATO
BUSINESS
BUSINESS
NEWS,
NEWS,
APRIL/MAY
APRIL/MAY
2023
2023
The three “diseases”
destroying our once
world-class health
sector
Age, Education and Inaction.
Doctors & nurses. We do
not have enough, and
they are disappearing.
When the NZ Rural Health
Network chair Dr Fiona Bolden
claims “it is not too dramatic to
say we are seeing a collapse of
health services in rural areas,”
we need to wake up and take
notice and act.
Age
The numbers tell a stark
story of age:
• Median age of all GPs is
54 with 14% over 65.
• One third plan to retire
within five short years.
• 50% will be retired within
10 years.
• 80% of our rural GPs say
they have suffered some
form of burnout.
We need over 800 new
doctors every year and we only
train 550. That need can only
grow, and the supply is being
artificially constrained by our
education system.
Our hospitals are in crisis
and no amount of rearranging
the deck chairs and back office
staff will improve our frontline.
In a crisis there are times when
you simply need numbers
of expert hands and the best
frontline troops; our primary
health doctors, are under
pressure, leaving the vocation,
and we are not replacing them
quick enough.
Our GPs are the ones who
know you and your family’s
health intimately. They are up
close and personal and more
than anyone else can prevent
a health crisis with a patient if
the symptoms are caught early.
That avoids overloading our
hospitals.
The answer is… we simply
need more doctors and nurses.
There is plenty of distressing
commentary about it. When
Starship Hospital cannot use its
assets because of lack of staff,
our most vulnerable children
are at risk.
Education
The core of the problem is
our education system.
We are being held to
ransom by an educational
duopoly at a time when we need
to train more medical staff.
Supply of new doctors is being
artificially restricted by the
two New Zealand universities
with medical schools that
aggressively protect their patch.
The two medical schools are
acting as if they are a duopoly
and they need to be challenged.
A duopoly is where two
entities have dominant or
exclusive control over a market.
The Commerce Commission
is looking at all forms of anticompetitive
behaviour but is
missing the boat when it comes
to the education of doctors.
Immigration has been
proven to be a false solution.
75% of foreign educated doctors
leave New Zealand within
2023
By Don Good, CEO of Waikato
Chamber of Commerce.
three years of arriving, and
this government has held onto
tough immigration settings.
Your health is at risk
because it is clear we are not
training enough doctors.
Inaction
The solution is action
not inaction. The solution is
creating a new medical school
at Waikato University.
If we want good healthcare
for ourselves and future
generations, we must hit up our
local MPs on this issue now.
If you are in a rural Waikato
electorate your MPs are Louise
Upston, Scott Simpson, Tim
van de Molen, Barbara Kuriger,
David Bennett and Andrew
Bayly. If you are in Hamilton,
it is Tama Potaka in the west
and Jamie Strange in the east.
It wouldn’t hurt to chase up
the aspiring election 2023
candidates like Ryan Hamilton
& Georgie Dansey now that
they have announced their
intentions to run for election.
Prevention is always better
than a cure. We need the
University of Waikato Medical
School to ensure we have
enough doctors to keep us
healthy and out of hospitals.
Use your vote this year to get
a new medical school.
WAIKATO CHAMBER
OF COMMERCE
BUSINESS
AWARDS
The road to perfection
It’s a phrase I’ve heard a lot recently – the road to perfection
is littered with disappointment. Or sometimes with
compromise. So, what does it mean for our marketing?
I’ve come to the conclusion
I’m too old and battleweary
to expect that very
much in my life will come out
as perfectly as I might hope it
would.
I’m relieved to say that with
every brand review or campaign
I start working on, I still
can’t help begin by thinking
“what if we can do something
that really blows people’s socks
off?”
The relentless effort, dedication,
and perseverance
needed to strive for the best
campaign, the best piece of
marketing, the best ad, is often
what drives our endeavours as
comms and marketing people.
But even with all that toil and
tribulation, perfection may still
be elusive.
I was born a bit cynical, I
have to admit. (I vividly recall
being told to look it up in a
dictionary when I was about
seven.) But I think age and
wisdom have rounded off the
sharp corners of my cynicism
and softened me into a healthier
realist.
The older I get, the more
uphill the journey towards perfection
seems to be, and the
pain of setbacks, criticism, or
obstacles that can lead to disappointment
is still painfully
all too real.
It often feels like there are
too many stars that need to
align to be able to shine brightest.
But that doesn’t mean we
can give up entirely.
Perhaps we can blame
social media (go on – let’s!) for
the fact that we are surrounded
by so many great examples of
marketing brilliance, and we
hope in our heart of hearts that
we too could achieve the same
level of greatness.
When we don’t feel our
efforts meet the perfection
TELLING YOUR
STORY
BY VICKI JONES
Vicki Jones is director of
Dugmore Jones, Hamilton-based
brand management consultancy.
vicki@dugmorejones.co.nz
criteria, we can blame lack of
budget or resources, lack of
opportunity, a lack of understanding
on the part of our customers
or, too often, a lack of
understanding within our own
businesses.
But the reality is that at least
one of those factors, or one of
many others, is likely to mean
we simply must compromise on
our lofty vision. We can cripple
ourselves trying to make something
perfect, when we could
just as easily be running ahead
of the rest with something
that’s not perfect but still pretty
darn good. Or, worse, do nothing
at all through fear of failure.
I’ve been admiring the
youthful and resilient optimism
of my daughter recently,
who has finished her Bachelor
of Creative Media Production
degree. She’s keenest on
the post-production side of
film and wants to be an editor.
Watching her working a few
projects to build up her portfolio,
I hold myself back from
telling her it’s ok to lower her
standards.
She’ll show me footage that
she’s editing and share her
frustrations about the quality,
or the light, or the saturation or
some other technical terms that
mean diddly squat to me. Looks
alright to me, I say! Until, on
the third time of viewing, I can
see what she’s concerned about
and admire her tenacity in trying
to make it right.
The clients won’t notice but,
as she rolls her eyes and says,
she will. And that matters.
The speakers at her graduation
told the newly capped
crowd to aim high, to set
seemingly unachievable goals,
because the higher you aim, the
higher you’ll reach.
That aspiration for perfection
is right to be encouraged,
for sure. But knowing when to
compromise on your standards
can be a key to success.
Think about the impact of
time constraints, deadlines,
and available resources, all of
which might force a refocus.
In some cases, achieving perfection
in one area may come
at the cost of another. Balancing
competing priorities may
require compromises to find a
middle ground that still meets
your goals.
There may be situations
where the pursuit of perfection
may not significantly contribute
to the desired outcome,
making it harder to justify
investment.
When it comes down to it,
the decision to compromise on
perfection depends on the specific
context, goals, and priorities.
It requires thoughtful consideration
to strike the right
balance.
Aiming for perfection may
be the ideal, but compromise
is better than never getting off
the starting blocks in the first
place.
THE GRAND CALIFORNIA
Connect - Grow - Inspire - Represent
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run an amazing initiative
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The Ebbett Group WE
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Volkswagen Campervan
Kiwifornia.
The team have had a huge
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All you need to do is visit:
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grand-kiwifornia and put in
a nomination for yourself,
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maybe even for a community
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This campervan can be
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or even up to a week. Tell
the team why you or your
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Find out what else the
Ebbett Volkswagen team do
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https://www.welovevw.
nz/grand-kiwifornia
https://www.welovevw.nz/