I am back at my desk here in the ONE News Christchurch newsroom after five glorious weeks basking in sunshine on my much-anticipated annual break.
If any of you read my last blog ... yes ... I did indeed follow my own advice and apply copious amounts of sunscreen.
It's pretty tough to stay completely out of the sun between 11am and 4pm though isn't it? Especially when the weather is so sublime. Why would you hide indoors when it's so gorgeous? It's a toughie that one.
I have just returned from a one-on-one meeting with our new Health Minister, Tony Ryall.
In all the years I have been doing this job (now 15 years and counting), it's the first time any health minister has invited me up for a meet-greet-talk-fest at the beginning of their reign. And I have to say, it was both enlightening and productive.
Anyone who follows health issues will have heard the Minister vow to usher in a brave new era of "clinical leadership" with doctors, nurses and other health professionals being able to have more say in the running of the health system.
His argument, one backed up by unions and many I have spoken to on the "shop-floor", has been that involving clinical staff in decision-making can only be a good thing and will usher in efficiencies and optimal care for the patient.
The main hope though is that by giving staff more say-so, morale will be boosted and hopefully help with what I consider is our health system's number one gremlin - workforce retention.
Ryall passionately believes providing more opportunities for clinical leadership will stop staff leaving for better money or fresher opportunities overseas. He reckons it isn't all about money and higher salaries elsewhere. He says morale is a biggie and making staff feel valued and rewarded for their input is key to helping New Zealand retain its health staff.
I get what he is saying. And I wish him luck with it.
It's a brave new tactic and lord knows no manner of wordy workforce reports penned and published over the last 10 years have come up with any other bright ideas to help stem the tide. Let's hope it bears fruit.
But call me a cynical old hack. I forsee this brave new world of doctor and nurse ideas suddenly being lapped up by cash-strapped health boards potentially fraught with some problems.
Indeed, there may be daggers at dawn in some hospital corridors.
Let's say, for instance, a group of surgeons goes to their local DHB chiefs outlining a fantastic idea to treat twice as many patients in a day, giving many more the opportunity for timely elective surgery.
Fantastic! A way to get those pesky waiting lists sorted!
All it may involve is the purchase of a million dollar machine to turn this into reality, a machine which will speed up theatre time and may even see patients home and out of an expensive hospital bed a day or two earlier than normal.
But my crystal ball tells me potential problems may emerge when the docs head into the room for a meeting with the DHB bean-counters on this. A million bucks upfront for a machine which will treat more elective patients is a wondrous thing, but the accountants won't be able to free up funds to turn this into a reality.
What's more, as fabulous as it may be to give more patients their operations, most DHBs can only afford to set aside enough money in the budget to meet the stringent elective surgery targets the ministry sets them. Doing more is great for the community, but will put them over budget.
Then the DHB may get into trouble with the Ministry of Health bean-counters, have their hands smacked and (horrors!) maybe even be put on "watch".
I can therefore see the surgeons leaving the meeting room frustrated. They may pick up the phone and give me a call to express this frustration. I would see their side of things. But I would see the DHB's side of things, too. Is the health ministry going to give the DHB more money to buy this machine? Or will it tell them to see if they can make it happen within their own budget?
Methinks the latter. And lord knows DHBs have a million other things to fund and juggle, don't they?
So I can see potential problems here. I know the new minister has done well to get the ok on maintaining current budgeted levels of spending in health, especially right now with recession-talk on everyone's lips. But if every DHB has doctors and nurses coming up with excellent ideas to boost productivity like this one, then that budget is going to be sorely tested.
New technology to deliver optimal patient care is a wondrous thing, but it don't come cheap.
However I know though that not all good ideas from clinical staff will involve money. Some will have brilliant suggestions to improve efficiencies for no extra, or very little, cost. When that happens, I hope DHBs will grab them and run with them.
I look forward to letting the public know precisely what they are. Let's hope it works and boosts morale, with the flow-on effect more job satisfaction and an end to the exodus.
What do you think about Tony Ryall's plans for the health sector? Share your view on the messageboard below.
Add a Comment:
Post new commentannmarie55 said on 2009-02-19 @ 02:22 NZDT: Report abusive post
My oncologist states that only a multivitamin is needed along with a healthy diet...your body will keep what it needs and expell the rest thru your urine.
deftlyhandled said on 2009-02-17 @ 11:40 NZDT: Report abusive post
A healthy person, with a healthy diet and lifestyle should have no need of vitamin supplements. (I hope the link works) http://www.scientificblogging.com/erin039s_spin/vitamins_and_nutrients_12_things_you_should_know_you_pop_any_pills
pimp my latte said on 2009-02-16 @ 06:13 NZDT: Report abusive post
So whats wrong with just eating lots of fresh fruit and veges? Vitamin pills might cost a lot less, but in my experience when you pay less for something nowadays... the quality is never what you quite hoped for.
wayno said on 2009-02-15 @ 12:53 NZDT: Report abusive post
some studies don't use a standard cross section of society for their sample base. I take vitamin C and I know i get sick a lot less than if I don't take it. if i do get sick then taking tens of grams a day of vitamin C gets rid of infections a lot faster than taking a low dose. cancer has been successfully treated by mega dosing with vitamin C and other anti oxidants, sometimes in the hundreds of grams of Vitamin C a day. tests show that all this vitamin c does get used in the body when sick
mbarnes said on 2009-02-14 @ 08:02 NZDT: Report abusive post
Its all a matter of dose. The last study to be published 500mg vit C, 600IU vit E alt days and b carotene50mg alt days-who in their right mind would think 500mg vit c would prevent cancer. You need to give several doses through the day to maintain a certain plasma concentration. Where the dose of vit E and b carotene came from is anyones guess. The commonest reason drug trials fail is inadequate dosing and the same is true of these vitamin trials. For data on vit D see www.vitaminD3world.com