Revolving Door Syndrome

On this episode we kōrero with Tommy Doran, a recovered meth addict and advocate for justice system reform with the NGO, JustSpeak. As somebody who has experienced the Revolving Door, Tommy offers great insight into the injustice of our prison systems; where recidivism is extremely high and rehabilitation rates, low. Tommy's story provides a window of hope to those still stuck in the cycle and provides valuable lessons we can learn from to enable to recovery of more people.

On this episode of our podcast, we kōrero with Dr. Elizabeth Berryman, a highly respected healthcare professional and advocate for clinician's mental health. Dr. Berryman's journey began as a nurse working in the remote Australian outback, where she faced unique challenges and gained invaluable experience in managing a small rural hospital. This experience fueled her passion for improving healthcare outcomes and inspired her to pursue a career in medicine. During her clinical years as a med student, she encountered a toxic bullying environment. This experience nearly led her to leave medicine altogether, but instead, it sparked a passion for investigating and improving workplace culture. Dr. Berryman's research ultimately led to the development of 'Chnnl,' a cutting-edge medical tech startup aimed at empowering healthcare workers to track their mental wellbeing and provide anonymous feedback to senior leadership. Through her work with 'Chnnl,' Dr. Berryman is making a significant impact in the healthcare industry, advocating for mental health awareness, and working to improve clinician wellbeing and patient outcomes.

On this episode we kōrero with Kiri Danielle, Ngati Kahungunu ki Wairarapa and Ngati Raukawa ki Te Tonga. We talk about her career as an early childhood educator and what a good quality pre-school looks like. We have one chance to get child development right and the consequences can be significant. We also talk about her experience of homelessness but by continuing to advocate for Papatuānuku, Mother Earth, through activism she was able to rise above to become a lawyer and now our very first Māori Environmental Commissioner. We touch on environmental issues and sustainability and how complex issues require a delicate hand.

On this episode we kōrero with Rich Rowley, an advocate and educator for neurodiversity within the workplace. With his charity, The Observatory, Rich runs workshops with businesses to help drive systems and culture change, to realise and embrace the neurodiverse skillset of their employees and solve big business problems. We discuss how the school system is letting down neurodiverse kids and driving them away from education and how Rich seeks to change this.

On this episode, we speak with Dr Orna McGinn, a GP specialising in women's health. We discuss the many issues currently affecting women's access to basic health needs and the inequities that exist for different groups. Dr Orna advocates for a Women's Health Strategy, of which New Zealand is one of few OECD countries where one doesn't exist.

On this episode, we're joined by political analyst Josh Van Veen. Bringing with him a wealth of experience in politics and health, Josh speaks to the effects of neoliberalism on our health system and the history of how we got here. We also kōrero about the time Josh spent at The Health and Disabilities Commissioner and the limitations faced with upholding the Code of Rights and implementing change.

Dr Justin Sung, former doctor, left medicine to pursue education for impactful change. Topics include inefficiencies in the medical system, gratitude and entitlement, effective learning techniques, the relationship between confidence and learning, early adopters in creating change, and sustainability in business models.

A bonus mini episode on the importance of compassionate palliative care with Dr Natalie Anderson. We talk about some of our own experiences with providing dignified end of life care and also Natalie shares her partner's complex health story and dealings with the health system.

On this episode we chat with emergency nurse and senior nursing lecturer, Dr Natalie Anderson, on the challenges of training new nurses and retaining existing ones. With recent revival talk of hospital wait time targets, we look at ways we can create useful indicators for our health system and provide clinicians power to demand better staffing and working conditions.

On this episode, we kōrero with a friend of mine, Luke Elborough. Luke's a Criminal Defence lawyer based in the Auckland region specialising in Legal Aid. Frequently, he gets to see behind the headlines, working directly with people on the receiving end of legal judgement. Luke talks to the complexities that lead to offending and how our Justice Systems are failing to catch people and instead aggravate the issues; leaving people more isolated from help and more likely to reoffend.