No surprise doctors don’t listen

I am appalled at the initial diagnosis given to the young lady featured on Wednesday’s front page. However, I am not surprised, There have been too many of these misdiagnoses in New Zealand lately. In the US the medical people concerned would most likely be successfully sued.

In a book I have recently read entitled When Doctors Don’t Listen by Dr Leana Wen and Dr Joshua Kosowsky, both at the Harvard Medical School, they bluntly state that one of the reasons the American health system is so expensive is that doctors don’t take the time to listen to their patients. They prefer to get patients to undergo a plethora of tests, many of them not only expensive and some cancerinducing but also unnecessary.

Ironically, they also say statistics have revealed that doctors that do talk to their patients are not likely to be sued. The main aim of the book is to get medical people and patients to change their relationships with each other. It is a must read for anybody in the medical profession.

David Clemow, Papakura.

Name suppression

Suppression orders may indeed be frustrating for the news media. But here in New Zealand there is still the quaint notion of innocent until proven guilty. Given the size of the population there is no chance of anonymity before a jury is selected. A jury, I might add, who in the main is not made up of “12 good men and true” but mostly people who could not come up with a valid reason to get themselves excused from their civic duty.

I dare say if they knew the accused’s past record they would more than likely ignore the evidence in the current trial and have an attitude of “they’ve done this before so they probably did it this time, now let‘s get out of here”.

John Capener, Kawerau.

Be careful

Like most of New Zealand I held my breath for three or four days and hoped the best outcome would happen for Grace Millane while believing that perhaps the worst had happened — and it did. And while I grieve with her family for the loss of a bright, young woman and daughter and the nation talks about how we should be a safe country, no one has mentioned the elephant in the room and the reason this was able to happen.

Girls, do not go into a room alone with a man you have only just met. Do not put yourself in that situation and take unnecessary risks. Use social media carefully and wisely. This is a shocking and horrible crime and there are some very sick people out there, even in New Zealand. Jane Fergusson, RD Morrinsville.

Not phallic

Regarding the Titirangi roundabout, which is covered with flowers and has a banner in memory of Grace Millane, your correspondent Mary Tallon claims the sculptures are embarrassing and suggestive. This roundabout was named by the UK Roundabout Appreciation Society as world roundabout of the year in 2017. The sculptures were inspired by fungi designed by a Unitec art student, Lisa Higgins and were never embarrassing, suggestive or phallic. Titirangi is demonstrating its compassion in Titirangi’s unique way.

Bette Swan, Titirangi.

Second language

Don’t you think the basics of the three Rs (reading, writing, and arithmetic) are more important than a second language? We have in this country children arriving at high school unable to read, yet we are now being told that children are to be taught a second language.

Along with a number of other caring people, I go once a week to a local primary school and listen, one on one, to children with reading difficulties read and talk about the story they have just read. If you want to help these children, give the teachers the necessary help to produce children able to read, write and do basic arithmetic, so that they can enter secondary school with confidence.

Lois Newby, Orewa.

Immigration pact

It is fascinating to see that on matters of immigration policy, “Winston the Warrior” in opposition is now turning out to be “Winston the Wimp” in government. He equivocates on signing the UN Pact on Immigration, claiming the litmus test is whether or not it will impact “our settings”. If it is to have no impact, I would ask Mr Peters and Ms Ardern, why then are we signing it? M.A. Pollock, Mount Eden.

Royal concerns

When I read the newspapers my eyes are drawn to articles about the royal family. What fodder they provide magazines and newspapers. I confess I devour the words, no matter how silly they are, with avid interest. But one must take it all with a generous pinch of salt. For instance, I cannot believe a venerated lady with the wisdom of our Queen cares one jot that her new granddaughter-in-law wears purple nail varnish. I am sure she cares even less that the lovely Duchess has been known to venture forth into the public eye with bare legs. This is hardly the Victorian age so let's get real.

To be honest I feel Her Majesty is delightfully modern in many ways. How could she not be with all those feisty grandchildren?

China’s reach

A.N. Christie, Rotorua.

As a veteran diplomat and being in his current position I am sure Sir Don McKinnon has to say something to please the Chinese Communist Party. But when he said, “Let’s refrain from focusing on largely unsubstantiated links between the actions of Chinese Kiwis and the leadership in Beijing”, I believe he must have been disingenuous or na¨ıve, the former being more accurate.

If you have lived under a communist regime like China’s you would know the government strictly controls the media, their propaganda machine. They also use the police and the armed forces to control the people internally and externally. Expatriates cannot escape the long arm of the state police. Anything they do against the laws, the international treaties, human rights, the regime does quietly, clandestinely and ruthlessly. They don’t do anything violent, so their deadly actions don’t normally attract the world’s attention like the US’s.

So there is no way to substantiate our claims against them. They are very good at covering their tracks. There is one saying well-known to people living under a communist regime, which is “Never listen to what the Government says, just look at what it does”.

Manh Bui-Van, Manukau.

Penlink ready and waiting

The Auckland Business Chamber was told in 2017 that if we could find the money and a partner to take on the Penlink project there would be no objections from the Auckland Council or the Government. We have. A private sector bid to fund and build Penlink was lodged with the NZ Transport Agency in October but the lack of urgency to move the bid forward has been disappointing.

If the Government is serious in wanting long-delayed Auckland infrastructure projects moving before the next election, perhaps NZTA now has an opportunity to get back to doing its core job – building “ready to go” transport infrastructure.

Michael Barnett, Chief Executive, Auckland Business Chamber.

Trivial pursuit

When considering the recent university study and debate over whether James Bond is an alcoholic, maybe our learned boffins could use their obviously large amount of spare time to study the dreadful way Clive is being treated in the Alex cartoon strip in the Herald’s Business section. Clive’s divorce proceedings and the way his boss is treating him must be ripe for an in-depth study. Or maybe the university professors could use their expensively educated brains to research and study something which actually matters to the world.

Graham Johnson, Orewa.

Gisborne worth it

When we look past the hypocritical popping and fizzing of the Opposition over Minister Shane Jones ignoring the advice of Treasury and investing in a positive rejuvenation of the Gisborne region with taxpayer funds, we find that while Jones can be abrasive and frustrating to the Opposition and media alike, he has clearly made the right decision.

Gisborne is clearly the “jewel” of the developing North Island coastal regions and has great potential to expand with employment opportunities for the local and regional workforce. The next step is to re-establish the rail link between the region and the main trunk.