The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) is the professional association and union uniting doctors and dentists in New Zealand.
More than 3100 patients of Southern District Health Board are overdue for an eye follow-up appointment as the board continues to deal with a crisis in its ophthalmology service. Of those, 719 patients had waited one and a-half times longer than they should. Read the article here: https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/health/thousands-wait-vain
If a Hutt Valley teen was seeking a non-urgent mental health appointment, they would have to hang on for at least eight weeks. That’s the next available appointment available for 12-19 year-olds in the area, where an independent review has found gaping holes in the service. In May, there was a lag time of six months between initial contact with the Hutt Valley District Health Board’s (HVDHB) infant, child, adolescent and family mental health service (ICAFS) and a follow-up appointment, the report found. …
Waikato Hospital has been put on notice over the training of young doctors. A review of the hospital’s prevocational medical training by the Medical Council of New Zealand found the health board did not meet four of 22 sets of standards. The council’s final report is expected late September but the hospital has already taken steps to remedy the shortcomings. Read the article here: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/97112760/waikato-hospital-on-notice-to-improve-intern-training
A group of overseas-trained doctors are consulting a lawyer as they are unable to get jobs in New Zealand, with many working in fast food outlets or driving taxis. A complaint has also been made to the Human Rights Commission. The group of about 60 foreign trained doctors, many of them New Zealand citizens or permanent residents, say it is unfair that they are being passed over for jobs in favour of New Zealand medical graduates. But health experts say …
Southern District Health Board commissioner Kathy Grant says she is running a “billion-dollar business” and won’t step down over the prostate cancer crisis. Affected cancer patient Paul Schofield called for Mrs Grant and chief executive Chris Fleming to be removed from their roles this week. It followed chief medical officer Nigel Millar’s admission he feared the life expectancy of some patients might have been shortened by delays treating prostate cancer. Yesterday, Health Minister Jonathan Coleman expressed confidence in Mrs Grant, …
Health Minister Jonathan Coleman says the combined DHB deficit for the 16/17 year is $117.5m and the audited result is unlikely to change. But Checkpoint understands it could be much higher. Listen here: http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/201859430/dhb-deficit-117-point-5m-but-not-finalised-coleman
Significant security upgrades to avoid another Ashburton-type shooting have contributed to costs doubling for a district health board office block renovation. The $7.7 million refurbishment of Hamilton’s KPMG building by the cash-strapped Waikato DHB has blown out to $14.7m in one year, documents released to the Herald under the Official Information Act confirm. One reason for the $7m increase was a significant security upgrade after the Ministry of Social Development was convicted in December of having an unsafe Work and Income in …
A plea to all nuclear armed and nuclear dependent states to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons has come from the World Medical Association. The Treaty, which prohibits the development, testing, production, possession, stockpiling, use, or threatened use of nuclear weapons was signed in July by 122 non-nuclear weapon states. Now the WMA, along with other organisations, is pressing all those states that have nuclear weapons or rely on the nuclear weapons possessed by others to also …
The Ministry of Health has received District Health Board financial results for the last two months but is refusing to release them before the election. The results from July and August were due with the ministry last week, but it will not release them, even in aggregate form, despite Stuff arguing it was in the public interest to know the results before the election. “The figures are still being collated, they’re then reported to the Minister and then published. Last year the …
A member of the embattled Waikato District Health Board has hit out at a culture of secrecy within the DHB after another baby death at Waikato Hospital was brought to light by media. It comes at the same time as senior doctors at the hospital has spoken out to allay women’s fears about giving birth at Waikato Hospital. Read the article here: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/health/news/article.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=11924431