ASMS

“Burnout among senior doctors providing front-line clinical care in our public hospitals is an important issue that political parties aspiring to be the next government need to address,” says Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS). “We want to hear from the Government on why they let this disaster happen and what they and the political parties lining up to form a new government after the election intend to do about both burnout and the …

Read more »

A survey of senior doctors at Nelson Marlborough District Health Board has revealed a shortage of specialists nearly two and a half times larger than the number of vacancies officially recorded, says Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS). This follows a similar survey of senior doctors at Capital & Coast DHB, released last week, which also recorded significant shortages (https://www.asms.org.nz/news/asms-news/2017/09/11/survey-reveals-significant-shortfall-senior-doctors-capital-coast-dhb/). “We’re seeing an ongoing pattern of significant but largely invisible shortages in the …

Read more »

A survey of senior doctors at Capital & Coast District Health Board has revealed a shortage of specialists three and a half times larger than the number of vacancies officially recorded, says Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS). “This highlights the difference between vacancies that hospitals are actively trying to fill and the actual gaps in the senior medical workforce which are often papered over by specialists shouldering more work to keep services running,” …

Read more »

“The fact local people are still having to go cap-in-hand for the health care their doctors say they need makes the 10th birthday of the Canterbury Charity Hospital a bitter-sweet anniversary,” says Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS). “The charity hospital has done an extraordinary amount of work in the past decade to ease the pain and suffering of people who have been unable to access surgery or other treatment in the severely under-funded …

Read more »

“It’s ironic that Canterbury’s public health system is being praised internationally for its vision and performance even as it faces ongoing attacks in New Zealand,” says Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS). He was commenting on an article in The Guardian that says experiences from Canterbury offer key lessons on how accountable care should work, and how it should not (https://www.theguardian.com/healthcare-network/2017/aug/25/what-can-the-nhs-learn-from-new-zealand). The article by health reporter Richard Vize, who used to edit the …

Read more »

“Senior doctors support tomorrow’s protest by West Coast people over the shoddy decision-making and flawed funding model for a new local medical facility,” says Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS). “It’s not that the facility isn’t needed – it’s about the Government foisting an unwanted public ‘private’ partnership called ‘capital recycling’ on the West Coast District Health Board under the guise of doing the local community a good turn, when in fact the funding …

Read more »

“The State Services Commission needs to take over the investigation into the expenses of Waikato District Health Board Chief Executive Nigel Murray,” says Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS). He was commenting on reports that the SSC has asked the DHB when it will disclose Dr Murray’s latest expenses (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11906700). “We think the investigation by the DHB Board’s Chair Bob Simcock risks an apparent or real conflict of interest given his ringing endorsement …

Read more »

“Private investment interests can try spinning the benefits of public private partnerships however they like but the international evidence shows quite clearly that they’re a flawed, expensive funding model,” says Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS). He was commenting on the response of Instructure New Zealand chief executive Stephen Selwood to ASMS criticism of the PPP funding model as applied to public hospitals, including the possibility of it being used for the Dunedin Hospital …

Read more »

“A new public hospital for Dunedin is long overdue and very welcome but it needs to be fully funded by the Government instead of allowing private investors to profit at the expense of patient care,” says Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS). He was commenting on Health Minister Jonathan Coleman’s announcement that Dunedin would get a new $1 billion-plus hospital, and that all funding options – including a Private Public Partnership (PPP) model – …

Read more »

“It’s reasonable to expect members of district health boards to tell their Chairs they’re going to talk to the media – but only if time permits and if this ‘heads up’ is not then used to dampen health debate,” says Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS). He was commenting on reports that elected MidCentral District Health Board members can now be accused of breaching the code of conduct if they speak to media without …

Read more »