Normally Swimwatch is all about swimming. Occasionally though some events occur that are so at odds with the truth they need to be exposed even on a sports blog. A few weeks ago, I was driving from the Owen Glenn Pool to the North Shore Hospital. The radio was tuned to Newstalk ZB. At that time in the morning Kerre Woodham is the intellectual genius Newstalk ZB has found to front their talkback. This particular morning, she was all worked up about health insurance.

The airwaves were positively buzzing with right wing bigotry. No one in New Zealand could trust a Labour led health service to provide competent health care. Operations were late, patients were dying, the sick were sleeping in hospital corridors and visiting an A&E Department always meant waiting three hours for attention. Kerre’s sheep responded to her provocation with unbridled passion.

“My son’s twisted ankle.”

“My daughter’s dislocated thumb.”

Horror story after horror story spewed across New Zealand. Clearly Dr. Ashley Bloomfield and Jacinda Ardern would be better suited to running an AFFCO meat plant. The only answer was to pay insurance and go private. Everything was better. Go in with a broken leg. Come out ready to run the New York marathon. One caller even suggested New Zealand medical schools adjusted their training depending on whether a student had private or public medicine as their goal.

“If you want the best, you have to pay for it.”

All that stuff is so bad it really should not be allowed. I know free speech is a cornerstone of our way of life. Even Kerre Woodham and the morons who follow her are entitled to say what they like. I was brought up to believe that I could disagree with what was being said but defend to the death the right to say it. But really did that apply to airheads like Woodham tearing down an institution as important and well run as the New Zealand national health service?

I think I can claim to be pretty experienced in the ways of the public health service. At a minimum I visit North Shore Hospital’s Apollo Drive Clinic three times a week for five hours of treatment each time. In addition, I have had several one-off visits to emergency care. One of those was yesterday afternoon at Waitakere Hospital. For Kerre Woodham’s education, Waitakere is part of the national public health service she cares to abuse. My problem was a nosebleed that wouldn’t stop bleeding. Here is a timeline of my treatment.

Time	Treatment	Comment
4.30pm	Arrive at Emergency Dept
4.40pm	Covid questions asked
4.45pm	RAT Covid test administered
5.00pm	Negative result confirmed
5.15pm	Taken to examination ward
5.30pm	Blood tests and preliminary treatment by nurse	Pinching nose and ice pack
6.00pm	Blood test results
6.15pm	Examination by Dr. Dixit	Confirmed treatment required
6.45pm	Treatment begins	Cleaning and cauterize
7.30pm	Treatment ends	Begin wait period to see if successful
8.15pm	End of wait period	Not successful. Doctor contacts specialist
8.30pm	Alternative treatment begins	Specialist dissolving dressing
9.00pm	Alternative treatment ends	Begin wait period to see if successful
10.00pm	Treatment works successfully
10.15pm	Discharged with prescription

So, there you go – six hours sounds like a long time, but for the doctor and the nurse responsible for my care I felt every attention was being made to my care and well-being. Alison and I were brought an egg sandwich and offered a cup of tea around 6.00pm. During the waiting periods the nurse checked that all was well on several occasions and provided me with a blanket because she thought it was getting cold. And it was all done for free – not a cash register in sight.

I guess Kerre Woodham would sarcastically say, “I’m so pleased you had a good experience.”

Yes, I did Kerre. In fact, I have the same “good experience” three times a week, every week. So back off the right-wing abuse. And thank our lucky stars we can receive treatment for free that in her wonderful reactionary world would be costing in excess of $NZ100,000. I can’t shut you up. But I can say you do not deserve to live here.