Sad news - the Birthing Centre at Melling will close

Hello from lockdown
Dear John,

I'm writing you from my desk at home, where I've spent much of the past ten days, in lockdown. There's no doubt that lockdown is tough - and so I hope this email finds you hale and hearty. I'd say "have a good weekend" but these days it's hard to tell exactly what day of the week it is, they all tend to merge into one, don't they?

Before I get into COVID stuff - I have to tell you about the terrible news ([link removed]) that the Te Awakairangi Birthing Centre at Melling in the Hutt is to close. It was announced yesterday and I am just gutted. Last week I launched a petition to try and get the DHB and the government to save it. 6000 plus people signed it but it has been ignored. I also wrote urgently to Ministers but as yet I haven't had a reply. The decision is appalling news ([link removed]) for Hutt families and will put even more pressure on the hospital. We should be supporting choice by women as to where they give birth and the decision by the DHB/government to not fund it is disgraceful.

This lockdown I've spent most of my days on Zoom and on the phone, working in my role as National's COVID-19 spokesperson. It's difficult for the Opposition at times like this - we don't have the near hour long daily updates at 1pm that everyone tunes into (I do wish they'd be on time!) and we struggle for attention. Plus, there's a natural tendency to rally around the government at a time of crisis. I see my role as trying to be critical where it's warranted, and to also put forward constructive ideas to help with out overall response. People will have different views on how I and we are going on that and I always welcome feedback, so drop me a line (mailto:[email protected]?subject=Feedback) with your views.

On the lockdown decision itself, there is no doubt it was warranted. As I've said for a number of months now, we have been sitting ducks for delta because we are so unvaccinated in New Zealand. The government really had no choice when it turned up in the community. As Professor Skegg told me yesterday, it was inevitable. So National supported the lockdown as the right - in fact only - choice, but the response since then could definitely have been better.

Before I get into our areas that need improving, let me start with the positive. Our vaccination campaign has really ramped up in the last week, with over 80,000 being done on Wednesday, which is fantastic. Vaccination is absolutely critical to avoiding future lockdowns and reconnecting with the world, and we need as high a rate as possible. Please book your vaccine online ([link removed]) . People aged 30+ are eligible now, and everyone can book from the 1st of September. 12-16 year olds are eligible now too. I've had some reports of people not being able to take their kids along when they go themselves, even though the PM explicitly told people to. Has that been an issue for you? (mailto:[email protected]?subject=12-16%20year%20olds)

Like last time, the contact tracing teams and our essential workers in our supermarkets are working incredibly hard in difficult conditions - so if you're shopping on the weekend then please say thank you to them.

Turning to the areas for improvement, there are many. It hasn't been proved definitively how delta got into the community yet, but all the suspicion is on the Crowne Plaza hotel in Auckland where the Sydney returnee stayed. Incredibly, there is a walkway which the public can access ([link removed]) next to the exercise area at the hotel, and the two areas share the same air. I can't believe this is true, but it is: the Crowne Plaza passed all its infection control audits, most recently in June.

Delta is so contagious and the contact tracing teams have really struggled to keep up with the spread of the number of contacts. At time of writing, thousands of "close contacts" have even yet to be contacted. That's a real concern. Testing has also been problematic, with some people waiting up to 10 hours for a test ([link removed]) . There hasn't been an effective way of prioritising people who were at locations of interest..We're not using saliva testing to help with our surge capacity, even though Dr Bloomfield said they'd be talking to providers. In terms of quarantine, people who have tested positive have sometimes waited more than a day before being transferred to the Jet Park. All in all, there does seem to have been a real failure to plan
([link removed]) for an outbreak of delta, which has been known about for months.

The biggest area where we can really improve is our vaccination rate. The simple reality is we have the slowest vaccine roll-out in the developed world. We're speeding up now, but we're still dead last. ([link removed]) 35% of port workers aren't vaccinated. DHBs don't know which staff ([link removed]) are vaccinated and which aren't. 3000 Auckland hospital ([link removed]) workers aren't vaccinated. The list goes on. We really should expect better. If you're looking for an explanation of how we got here, check out this post here from
me. ([link removed])

So where to from here? We need to get this outbreak under control, and then really ramp up our vaccination rates. Chris Hipkins might not accept ([link removed]) we are slow as he told me in a online committee meeting this week, but we are. National released a plan to supercharge vaccination just yesterday - check it out here. ([link removed])

Finally, Parliament was meant to return this week, but the Prime Minister suspended the House ([link removed]) while the country is at Level 4. We've been critical of that decision and we think its time to bring back the Epidemic Response Committee which operated so well last year. Democratic scrutiny and accountability is important and a committee chaired by the Opposition can do that effectively. Sign our petition ([link removed]) to bring it back here. ([link removed]) We're yet to work out exactly what's going to happen next week.

That's all from me this week. If you're struggling during lockdown and need a hand, please let me know and my office know - we are there to help and my staff are working from home too.

Chris

P.S This was pre the lockdown, but did you see me on Q and A ([link removed]) on Sunday 19 August?
Petition to save the Birthing Centre
We actually hit 6000 in the end. Thank you to everyone who signed!
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