Removal of pathologists from long-term skills shortage list unwise
Source: Association of Salaried Medical Specialists The senior doctors’ union says its concerns about the immigration status of pathologists have been acknowledged but the Government’s response falls well short of what is needed. Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS), says Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway has written to acknowledge the […]
Read More →Health Minister warns Waikato DHB over growing deficit
Source: Association of Salaried Medical Specialists – Press Release/Statement: Headline: Health Minister warns Waikato DHB over growing deficit The Health Minister is poised to sack the entire Waikato District Health Board and replace it with a commissioner. David Clark has told the embattled DHB he’s seriously dissatisfied with its performance and increasingly worried about its […]
Read More →Hospital specialists congratulate midwives on accord – and ask: what about us?
Source: Association of Salaried Medical Specialists “Hospital midwives are to be congratulated for successfully negotiating a safer staffing accord – and now it’s the turn of hospital specialists to have a similar agreement with the Government to address the serious workforce issues they’re dealing with,” says Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried […]
Read More →Phew!
Source: Association of Salaried Medical Specialists Phew is the reaction from Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) to the news that the Employment Relations Authority will undertake a ‘facilitation’ of the long-running toxic industrial dispute between the 20 district health boards (DHBs) and the Resident Doctors’ Association (RDA) representing […]
Read More →Senior doctors pleased health review chief understands importance of workforce
Source: Association of Salaried Medical Specialists A focus on workforce in the Health and Disability System Review has been welcomed by the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS), but it cautions against any unsettling industrial changes. In an interview with The Specialist, the quarterly magazine produced by ASMS, review panel Chair Heather Simpson suggests it […]
Read More →DHBs urged to address hospital specialist burnout
Source: Association of Salaried Medical Specialists Stress, fatigue, and overwork are taking a toll on New Zealand’s public hospital specialists and District Health Boards need to do much more to support them, Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) Executive Director Ian Powell says. Research conducted by ASMS in 2016 revealed a 50% burnout rate among […]
Read More →More questions than answers
Source: Association of Salaried Medical Specialists The Mental Health and Addiction inquiry report has laudable aims but lacks detail about implementation and side-lines those who work in the sector, says Lyndon Keene, Director of Policy and Research at the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) Published in ASMS magazine The Specialist on page 17-18, Mr […]
Read More →Q&A: ‘Medical manslaughter’ a growing worry
Source: Association of Salaried Medical Specialists – Press Release/Statement: Headline: Q&A: ‘Medical manslaughter’ a growing worry A UK neurologist and medical law campaigner just visited the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences to discuss “medical manslaughter” – when doctors are charged over the deaths of patients. Dr Jenny Vaughan was the medical lead […]
Read More →New Zealand Medical Students Support Ban on Semi-Automatic Weapons
Source: Association of Salaried Medical Specialists – Press Release/Statement: Headline: New Zealand Medical Students Support Ban on Semi-Automatic Weapons In the wake of the terrorist attack on the Muslim community in Christchurch, New Zealand’s medical students strongly support the Government’s ban on military style semi-automatic weapons and high capacity magazines, which will progress through Parliament […]
Read More →Dr Khalid Shah: ‘I’ve never had such a sense of belonging in NZ’
Source: Association of Salaried Medical Specialists – Press Release/Statement: Headline: Dr Khalid Shah: ‘I’ve never had such a sense of belonging in NZ’ In an effort to hear more from Muslim voices following of the Christchurch mosque attacks, this week Kyle MacDonald gives his column over to Dr Khalid Shah, a trainee GP in Auckland. […]
Read More →Acute hospital admissions grow despite increased use of GP services
Source: Association of Salaried Medical Specialists Acute hospital admissions are increasing well above the population growth rate despite increased use of general practice (GP) services, says Lyndon Keene, Director of Policy and Research for the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS). This is one of the findings of an ASMS Research Brief looking at whether […]
Read More →Hospital specialist among the victims of Christchurch shooting
Source: Association of Salaried Medical Specialists ASMS is saddened to report that one of our members, Dr Amjad Hamid, died in Friday’s mass shooting in Christchurch. Stuff website reports that Amjad Hamid, 57, was an SMO and rural hospital consultant at Hawera Hospital. Prior to that he was a senior doctor with a special interest […]
Read More →Senior doctors’ union acknowledges contribution of Waikato’s interim health chief
Source: Association of Salaried Medical Specialists The senior doctors’ union says departing Waikato District Health Board interim chief Derek Wright provided much-needed stability in the wake of the Nigel Murray scandal. “The DHB desperately needed a steady pair of hands at the helm after former Chief Executive Nigel Murray left in disgrace,” says Ian Powell, […]
Read More →DHBs face million dollar bills after underpaying holiday pay
Source: Association of Salaried Medical Specialists – Press Release/Statement: Headline: DHBs face million dollar bills after underpaying holiday pay Thousands of health workers may be owed millions of dollars because of years of underpayments under the Holidays Act. But after three years trying to untangle the mess, the district health boards are still unable to […]
Read More →Senior doctors urge Government to address chronic pain burden
Source: Association of Salaried Medical Specialists “The Government needs to make sure the public health system has enough specialists to treat chronic pain to relieve the burden of suffering for patients and their families,” says Angela Belich, Deputy Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS). She was commenting on new research published […]
Read More →Poor housing costing taxpayers $145m a year – report
Source: Association of Salaried Medical Specialists – Press Release/Statement: Headline: Poor housing costing taxpayers $145m a year – report A day after the Government announced tough new insulation and heating standards for rental homes, new research from the University of Otago says poor housing conditions cost taxpayers more than $145 million a year in ACC […]
Read More →Insurers funding record healthcare as access to public system worsens
Source: Association of Salaried Medical Specialists – Press Release/Statement: Headline: Insurers funding record healthcare as access to public system worsens Health insurers have been funding record levels of healthcare and covering more surgery as DHBs struggle to meet people’s needs in a reasonable timeframe, the Health Funds Association (HFANZ) said today.Commenting on the release of […]
Read More →DHBs accuse junior doctors union of misleading claims
Source: Association of Salaried Medical Specialists – Press Release/Statement: Headline: DHBs accuse junior doctors union of misleading claims District health boards are accusing the junior doctors’ union of making misleading and or deceptive statements in their deepening pay row. The doctors are taking ongoing strike action at public hospitals in a bitter row over proposed […]
Read More →Senior doctors welcome new Medical Council Chair
Source: Association of Salaried Medical Specialists The senior doctors’ union welcomes the election of Dr Curtis Walker as the Medical Council’s new chair. The Medical Council of New Zealand announced yesterday that Dr Walker, a renal and general physician at MidCentral District Health Board, is to take over the role from Auckland surgeon Andrew Connolly […]
Read More →Junior doctors strike as dispute continues
Source: Association of Salaried Medical Specialists – Press Release/Statement: Headline: Junior doctors strike as dispute continues Junior doctors are on strike again this morning for two days as tension mounts in public hospitals from strikes. The strike from 8am Tuesday until early Thursday is the third such strike by the doctors since mid January. The […]
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