Phil Pennington

Crippling doctor workforce shortages have forced some cancer services at Dunedin Hospital to be cut entirely as well as sparking a national shake-up.

Dunedin has in recent weeks stopped key services… Audio

Heavy dental clinic trailers are still being towed between schools, even after an investigation found their wheel studs are likely to snap off after just 3000 kilometres

The wheels on two trailers… Audio

New figures show the government has spent just 3 percent of the half a billion dollars it promised four years ago for new mental health facilities.

Just $15 million has been allocated from the fund -… Audio

A significant thaw in the so-called public servant pay freeze is imminent. 

The Public Service Commission is putting out its new guidance as early as next week.

RNZ's Phil Pennington has obtained a… Audio

A deep dive into mental health infrastructure has come up with nasty results for the government.

It wanted to know how its new builds and rebuilds are going in what it says is a top health priority… Audio

The Detail podcast brings you the issues behind the news every weekday. Here's what we covered this week. Audio

The work safety watchdog says it regrets keeping the families of two temp workers who died in a car crash in the dark.

At an inquest yesterday, the families spoke out against WorkSafe and police for… Audio

'Too scared to say no.'

That's how the families of two temporary workers are describing them on a commute they did not want to take, and did not survive.

The Palmerston North men, Floyd Harris and… Audio

Government Ministers deny they are looking at public-private partnerships to pay for big health projects like new hospitals.

Internal documents from national health agency Te Whatu Ora show in… Audio

Government spending on consultants and contractors is back in the news - but what are they actually paid to do? Audio

Whakatāne hospital's acute mental health facility may have to close unless urgent work is carried out to keep patients safe in an earthquake.

Board minutes from January reveal that GNS Science has… Audio

National is keeping the heat on the government over the rising spend on contractors in the public service.

But its scattergun approach in the fraught health sector has shot wide of the mark with both… Audio

WorkSafe did not prosecute the Waka Kotahi over a roadworker being killed despite an expert telling it to.

The only company or agency which was charged, Fulton Hogan, is not happy about that.

Phil… Audio

New Zealand's being warned it needs to wake up to the threat of online voter manipulation in  this year's election.

Experts say the country should consider Europe's move to ban microtargeting that… Audio

Old-fashioned AM radio was an information lifeline for many during Cyclone Gabrielle when other sources wilted without power. Now a little-known arrangement that puts proceedings of Parliament on the… Audio

The AM radio network that has been a lifeline during Cyclone Gabrielle faces losing most of the government funding that keeps it running.  

But its operator, RNZ, says the AM network must be kept… Audio