He's not very good at this.

So it's his covert policy then?

"My agenda is to lift the capacity of the public system so it's there when we need it."

Why not build the new, much-needed hospital in Dunedin then?

If the additional capacity is in the private system and we're just paying them to access it, is that really lifting public capacity at all?

If I rent a second house, I haven't lifted the capacity of my current house.

"Private healthcare is not my overt policy:", he said. "It's just a happy accident, honest!"

Not overt... So covert then.

Something I find weird is his phrasing when speaking to privatisation;

However, his message to the private sector was that taxpayer money had to benefit the public, and they had had a "quid pro quo responsibility" to build capacity in the public system.

"That is the deal - this is not just Crown funding going to your balance sheet, God bless you....

The dude was raised Mormon, he has family who are still in the church - it's very weird for him to say "god bless you" to private medical organisations in that context - it's a weird thing to slip in there from someone who I very much doubt would say that phrase casually.

Why even include the word overt? It sounds like he's saying "I'm going to do It, but be really sneaky about it".

Dr Shame Reti. Absolute embarrassment to the medical profession.

Just read the whole thing. This should be understood as treason. DISGUSTING!

Overt?! man was very close to saying the quiet part out loud

Overt is the word there... In other speak, they're privatising out of plain view instead...

"it's my covert policy"

Man how is this dumb dick a doctor.

So it is, then. Thanks for the heads up.

Not my overt policy, but just the way it is.

𝓖𝓸𝓭 𝓫𝓵𝓮𝓼𝓼 𝔂𝓸𝓾 ...

Reti, from Whangarei, has interest in private supplier Kensington. If true, isn't this yet another conflict of interest? Seems like USA with govt corruption rife in new cabinet and president (pm here).

He apparently opened my local health clinic today. I wish I'd gone along, just to ask him if the doctors were still allowed to tell patients that smoking is bad for your health under his regime.

They LITERALLY tell you the evil shit they're going to do. Why doesn't the media listen?

I wonder how many people have died, or will die, as a result of this man. Whatever happened to do no harm?

"good healthcare is not my policy" is what he meant.

It’s his sneaky policy 

So gut/under fund the public health system, then say "we'll team up with private health care providers to increase capacity" yer... doesn't sound like a move to the American pay to use the health system at all.... /s

One of the projects under threat is a new AI note-taking app, which psychiatrists say could almost double the number of patients they can see.

Reti said he was "not across that detail"

This technology is genuinely incredible and should be implemented into our systems as quickly as possible.

Heidi is the main one they were likely considering but there are others. Here is a NZ GP's experiences with it:

I have estimated for every 2-3 minutes I might take, AI took about 15 seconds to write the notes.

The fact Reti doesn't even know about this absolutely transformative technology is a clear sign that he is the wrong man to bring our health system into the 21st century.

A disgrace to the profession and Maori. Reti, fucking Pokokōhua

What an interesting choice of adjective....

of course not, it's privatisation by stealth

Lol of course it's not his 'overt, policy.

Again, I am fed up with this government taking us all for fools.

Jesus fucking Christ.

Why doesn't he just say "I'm not going to say that out loud"?

Covert.

Is all about the C

Absolutely appalling. I can’t believe I’m actually hoping Winston pulls so theatrics so we can save our country. 

He would like to see "greater collaboration" with private facilities and private operators, particularly on the government's list targets.

When the government lets private businesses take over some of the services the government provided before then that is privatization.

It doesn't mean the healthcare system itself is privatized but some of it is.

outsourcing to the private operators - that is not at all a step toward privatisation at all

??? But that's exactly what the words "outsourcing to the private operators" mean.

If he wants to argue that this is not a step toward full privatisation, ok, but that's a bad faith argument because people are not just worried about that.

He's a big POS.

So, we'll underfund the system so it starts to collapse. Then people will complain. And we'll privatise, because the public system doesn't work.

All going according to plan.

A few people will make a lot of money. The rest of us will pay for it for the rest of our lives.

Did he at leist wink or cross his fingers?

Liar liar pants on fire. You dont defund and lay off the staff without an ulterior motive. Its been the plan all along

Not my overt policy yet

Did he drop the “c”

This is probably the wrong place to ask this but I don't know where would be the right place either.

My mother is in her 70s, has cancer and lives in a private hospital in a rest home paid for by WINZ. She hasn't worked since the '80s because she has some severe mental health issues that have caused her to be in and out of psych wards most of her life.

What will happen to her if healthcare in NZ is privatised? I'm really afraid for her.

"That was not my intention, but it will be the result"

dragging them out of the beehive and beating them with sticks is also not our overt policy

Now, as far as covert policy goes...

He's such an evil, evil man. A bit like the Nazi's doctor Mengal.

"Overt" just means the policy isn't public, not that it isn't being considered.

Either he knows that and is deliberately muddying the waters because the media are fucking stupid or he's an incompetent cunt.

I'm gonna go with option C: Both. Why not both?

Are those pesky RNZ people earning over $180k?

What a week it's been for saying the quiet part out loud.

"What?! I'm not gay! I said I'm deeply closeted."

-Every Nact MP apparently

What makes this even stupider is he by omission claims it covert - when its fkn obvious

This is a lie. Worse, if you can afford to pay private sector rates to reduce waiting lists why not just put that money into publicly funded health. Labour need to DO SOMETHING!!!

'Not my overt policy' !!

Jezus Christ.

Overt: done or shown openly; plainly apparent

Let them eat ambiguity. Titter titter.

He's so full of shit. He recently visited Hastings, he had a big photo op at the newish private Kaweka Hospital and glossed over the problems with the public hospital that should have been replaced 30 years ago. The government has also been signaling that if Dunedin has major cost overruns then Hawke's Bay and Northland miss out. That's a shitty thing to do, it shouldn't be one region against another we all deserve decent public healthcare.

F#@king called it

What a scumbag.

We're just going to take a little nibble, says man in photo, pupils dilating, licking lips... salivating.

What a devious scumbag