16 March 2010
Dear Member
We welcome any feedback on the contents of the 3rd issue of ASMS Direct for 2010.
1. Proposal to Expand Current Role of Pharmac to Hospital Medicines and Some Medical Devices
2. Medical Council Media Statement on Dr Ranchhod Controversy
3. ASMS Health Dialogue: Commentary on SMO Commission
4. National DHB MECA Negotiations
1. Proposal to Expand Current Role of Pharmac to Hospital Medicines and Some Medical Devices
The ASMS, along with several other organisations, has received the following (summarised) communication from Dr David Sage on behalf of the Minister of Health. You and your colleagues may wish to consider forwarding your advice to Dr Sage on the subject.
On behalf of Hon Tony Ryall, Minister of Health, I am writing to request that you and/or your organisation consider the attached discussion paper and make a submission on it by replying to this email address [Scott_Connew@moh.govt.nz] by 1 April 2010. I am also available to discuss your views by video-conference or in person during part of March. The discussion document outlines a proposal to expand the current role of PHARMAC with respect to hospital medicines and a limited range of medical devices, including PHARMAC managing a fixed budget for these items in the way that it currently does for community medicines. The Minister of Health has asked me to oversee a period of consultation with clinicians on this proposal. The consultation was announced by the Minister of Health on Friday 26 February 2010.
The outcomes of the consultation will inform further Cabinet decisions on the future role of PHARMAC, which are likely to take place in May 2010. Due to this timeframe, receiving the submissions of clinical leaders and their professional Colleges and Associations on the proposal outlined in the attachment by 1 April 2010 will be crucial to ensuring that Cabinet is informed of the views of clinicians on this matter.
Dr David Sage
Chief Medical Officer
Auckland District Health Board
2. Medical Council Media Statement on Dr Ranchhod Controversy
On 15 March new Medical Council Chair Dr John Adams released the following media statement defending the Council’s handling of the Dr Ranchhod case:
The Medical Council has rejected criticism that it had been too slow to respond to concerns about Dr Rantilal Ranchhod, a South Auckland general practitioner…media criticism of the Council did not reflect the facts of the case.
I strongly believe we have protected public health and safety, as well as managed concerns around Dr Ranchhod's competence effectively once complaints were brought to our attention.
A total of 16 complaints made between 1997 and 2008 were referred to the Council by the Health and Disability Commissioner (HDC). For 13 of these complaints, the HDC either discontinued investigating, recommended no further action be taken or resolved the complaint through advocacy.
The first four complaints notified had all been dealt with appropriately by both the HDC and the Council. The next seven were not advised by the HDC to the Council until 19 May 2006 when we commenced Performance assessment committee action (PAC).
The Council's decisions not to impose an interim suspension of the doctor’s practising certificate, but to place conditions on his practice, were based upon reliable evidence - the outcome of a PAC, which includes two senior doctors and a lay person observing Dr Ranchhod in practise and examining his clinical knowledge.
The Performance assessment committee concluded,"...we found Dr Ranchhod to be a competent practitioner with good basic practice clinical knowledge and skills, though he tended towards a medical management model and disease-centred approach to patient care. Diagnosis, management and referral were generally appropriate."
The Council seriously considered suspension upon further complaints being received but like the subsequent decision of the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal (HPDT) did not believe that suspension was the best way to rehabilitate Dr Ranchhod or to protect public health and safety.
The conditions placed on Dr Ranchhod’s annual practising certificate have been fully monitored by Council throughout and the HPDT conditions are largely a repeat of what the Council imposed.
3. ASMS Health Dialogue: Commentary on SMO Commission
Late last year the ASMS produced a Health Dialogue entitled The Future of the Leaking Bucket. The term ‘leaking bucket’ was the title of the ASMS’s submission to the SMO Commission on competitive and sustainable terms and conditions of employment. The ASMS was critical of the SMO Commission’s report largely for failing to complete its terms of reference but also for a number of errors and misunderstandings.
The Health Dialogue, which includes a response from the Chair of the SMO Commission, is accessible from our website at www.asms.org.nz or can be ordered by contacting Kathy Eaden at ke@asms.org.nz.
4. National DHB MECA Negotiations
The ASMS has already been having constructive informal discussions with the DHBs on our forthcoming MECA negotiations and an agreed path for the start of the negotiations has been developed. This and the ASMS’s approach are fully outlined in our print publication Bargaining Bulletin which all DHB employed members should receive within the next fortnight in the same mail-out as the March issue of The Specialist.
Kind regards
Ian Powell
executive director
