ASMS

ASMS  has received a message of support from our colleagues on the other side of the Tasman. The President of the Australian Salaried Medical Officers’ Federation Geoff Dobb said: “We have been following the events unfolding in NZ from this side of the Tasman with great sadness, but also admiration for the emergency response teams and the medical staff caring for the survivors. The workload for your plastic surgeons, intensivists, anaesthetists and others who support them must be extreme, especially …

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The senior doctors’ union, the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, is welcoming a report from the Medical Protection Society which provides further evidence of doctor burnout and high workload pressures. The “Breaking the burnout cycle” report shows 44% of 300 doctors surveyed are not satisfied with their work/life balance, and 41% have considered leaving the profession over issues of wellbeing. A corresponding survey of dental professionals reveals similar trends. ASMS represents senior doctors and dentists in New Zealand’s …

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The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) welcomes the District Health Board Chairs and board appointees announced by Health Minister David Clark. “We wish them all the best for their tenure and congratulate them for their dedication to the public health service in agreeing to serve,” ASMS Executive Director Ian Powell says. The appointment of four Māori Chairs is a positive development. There are 13 new Chairs and nearly half of the total 76 appointees are women. The appointees join …

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A drop in elective procedures is a symptom of a public health system overwhelmed by acute patients surging into hospitals requiring immediate and often life-saving care, says Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) Executive Director Ian Powell. A story (paywalled) in the Herald on Sunday today shows that for the first time in a decade the annual number of elective (pre-planned non-acute procedures) has dropped. The figure is almost 6000 surgeries lower than the previous year. Mr Powell says the …

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The World Medical Association has expressed its deep concern over a law being proposed by the Malaysian Government to imprison or fine physicians if they refuse to provide prescriptions being requested by patients. Read more

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New research reveals medical specialists in New Zealand’s public hospitals are, on average, earning as much as 60 percent less than their Australian counterparts. The research, conducted by BERL for the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, compared the base 40-hour a week salaries of senior hospital doctors on both sides of the Tasman. “There is no surprise that salaries for medical specialists are higher in Australia than here”, says BERL Research Director Dr Ganesh Nana. “However, the size of the …

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The senior doctors’ union will ask District Health Boards to introduce gender pay audits after independently-conducted research found female specialists are paid 12.5% less per hour than their male colleagues. Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) Deputy Executive Director Angela Belich said the findings provide an evidence base for the many anecdotal reports from women members who believed they were paid less but had no way of proving it. “ASMS will be asking each DHB to conduct a gender pay …

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Hospital specialists around the country warn that public hospitals have reached a tipping point in a new report entitled: Hospitals on the Edge. Produced by the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, the report is released today ahead of the health union’s annual conference. The impetus for the report is the rising concern of members about the increasingly unsafe state of our public hospitals and clinical services. The report contains statistical analysis as well as comments from working specialists, who have …

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Emergency cash injections for DHBs are a symptom of a woefully inadequate budget planning process that is increasingly an exercise in futility, Association of Salaried Medical Specialists Executive Director Ian Powell says. Mr Powell was commenting on a New Zealand Herald story that reveals equity injections to seven DHBs totalling $142 million to keep them afloat in the last financial year. This was on top of an earlier $92 million payout in January, and a further $134 million is …

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A study examining gender bias and other challenges faced by women in New Zealand’s senior medical workforce was launched today at Parliament by Minister for Women and Associate Minister of Health Julie Anne Genter. It’s hoped the research will spark much-needed debate on the culture and future of medicine. “Making up for being female’: Work-life balance, medical time and gender norms for women in the New Zealand senior medical workforce” was conducted by Association of Salaried Medical Specialists Director …

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