John Capener

The other day I received a fat envelope in the mail. At first, I was intrigued about what it contained, then surprised – which then became disgust.

The envelope was a throwback to the days when mouth and foot artists would send out similar envelopes with several Christmas cards in the hope that you would purchase them.

The source of my disgust?

The fact that the packet of cards was a fundraiser for The Starship Children’s Hospital.

Think about that for a moment. Is this what funding for health care under this Coalition Government has come to?

Isn’t it bad enough that it has underfunded some cancer treatments, made a joke of nurse recruitment and have a brand-new ward in a hospital in Auckland that can’t be opened because it won’t fund the staff to man it?

And now a children’s hospital having to fundraise? This not how you run a “health” department.

For heaven’s sake, is anyone else sick and tired of this Government that has lost any sense of decency and humanity?