ASMS

The Mental Health and Addiction inquiry report released this month by Health Minister David Clark is the most significant review of the sector since the 1990s and looks set to lead to an overhaul of services. It’s prompted discussion about the role of the state and health professionals in an issue with wide social and community drivers. In an article for ASMS, Wellington forensic psychiatrist Justin Barry-Walsh argues both for broad social change and an immediate increase in resources to …

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Doctors at five Wellington general practices are due to strike for an hour tomorrow morning, the second in a series of walkouts over the exclusion of their dentist colleagues from their collective employment agreement. Twenty-one doctors at Iwi health provider practices in Porirua, Cannons Creek, Titahi Bay and Newtown plan to strike from 9am until 10am on Monday 10 December, with further stoppages scheduled for 13, 18 and 19 December, followed by a full-day strike on Christmas Eve. They also …

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Twenty-one doctors at five Iwi health provider practices will take the first ever strike action by New Zealand general practitioners tomorrow (Friday) after efforts to avert the strike failed. “This could have been avoided if the employer, Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira, which runs Ora Toa Health, allowed its dentists to join the collective agreement that covers its doctors,” says Lloyd Woods, Senior Industrial Officer at the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS). “It’s regrettable, as it didn’t need to …

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The senior doctors’ union says the Health Minister needs to get off the fence over the issue of a safe staffing accord for hospital specialists. “The Minister doesn’t seem to appreciate the gravity of the situation for hospital specialists,” says Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS). “Our research indicates about half of them are experiencing burnout, they’re dealing with workforce shortages of around 20%, and a quarter of them have said they plan to …

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Doctors at five Wellington practices plan to walk off the job in support of their dental colleagues – believed to be the first time a strike has taken place in a GP practice. Twenty-one GPs employed by Te Rūnanga O Toa Rangatira (Ora Toa Primary Health) practices across Porirua and in Newtown in Wellington have overwhelmingly voted for a series of rolling stoppages, says Lloyd Woods, Senior Industrial Officer at the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS). These include five …

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The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) is calling on Health Minister David Clark to support the development of a safe staffing accord with senior doctors and dentists working in public hospitals. “Hospital specialists, like nurses and other frontline health workers, continue to suffer from high workloads caused by years of under-resourcing and neglect of the public health system, and problems with high levels of burnout and forced to work while sick and infectious,” says ASMS Executive Director Ian Powell. …

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Two senior health professionals are urging colleagues and the wider health sector to take a lead in the fight against climate change. Counties Manukau District Health Board intensivist Dr David Galler and CMDHB anaesthetist Dr Rob Burrell gave a presentation today at the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) annual conference in Wellington. “If the health care sector is to play its part helping the nation become net carbon neutral by 2050, we need policy changes to ensure that our …

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Research carried out by the union for senior doctors and dentists has revealed a need for both attitudinal and structural change to encourage more women to participate in the specialist workforce. The study conducted by Dr Charlotte Chambers, Principal Analyst at the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS), involved in-depth interviews with 14 female specialists across a range of specialities. The interview subjects were all aged in their 30s, some of whom were experiencing burnout. This research was prompted by …

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The union for senior doctors and dentists is welcoming news of a significant pay rise for thousands of hospital service workers. “These employees contribute to the smooth running of our hospitals, ensuring they are clean, safe places for patients,” says Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS). “Our public hospitals are not just about doctors and nurses, and ASMS members will be pleased that the important work that hospital service workers do is being recognised. …

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The union for senior doctors and dentists is welcoming the Government’s promise of more money to fix the country’s run-down and cash-strapped hospitals, but says equal attention must be given to tackling problems with the senior medical workforce. “We’re very glad that the Government is allocating significant amounts of money for our public health infrastructure but there are also longstanding and very serious shortages in the specialist workforce in public hospitals that need to be addressed urgently,” says Ian Powell, …

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