Public health leader takes own advice on stress, and quits

Ron Dunham. Picture / Bay of Plenty Times

Ron Dunham says it is frustrating that people don't prepare for the future. Picture / Bay of Plenty Times

The New Zealand health system is in the best shape it has been for years, says Bay of Plenty District Health Board chief executive Ron Dunham, resigning after 10 years in charge.

Describing it as a "between a rock and a hard place sort of job", he hopes the days of big, unsettling shake-ups in the health field are gone.

"I think they have got it damn near right. Over the past five years there has been a degree of stability as well," Mr Dunham said yesterday.

"We have got the right components in there now - it's a bit like someone giving you more lego blocks. We have enough material to get continuum of care. Before, it was all compartmentalised."

The politics of the job were "always hard" and competent specialised staff were "held down" by budget constraints, he said.

"After all these years I am still so respectful of the health professionals. None of them set out to do a bad job. They do their best with what they have got."

For this 54-year-old there is more to do yet. A former nurse, he has spent his whole career in health and will start his own consulting business in Tauranga, bringing a holistic approach to community wellbeing.

Mr Durham said there was a big opportunity to have a healthier population by further educating people and improving their living conditions.

"One of the things that has struck me attending hui around the district is that the biggest issue for small, isolated communities can be as basic as the need for clean water.

"There are still people within the Bay of Plenty whose water supply and sewerage systems are not up to scratch. We have not even got the fundamentals right."

He wants to see health boards working more closely with local councils and with organisations such as Housing New Zealand to improve living standards, which in turn influence health.

"We get criticised for our race-based programmes but there is a direct co-relation between race and deprivation in the Bay of Plenty."

Cultural sensitivity was important to put patients at ease.

"It is about how we do it, not who we do it to. And it works."

Mr Dunham said that, with a fast-ageing population, it was frustrating to see people failing to prepare for the future.

"We don't actually do it today because we feel healthy. But you can't leave it until you are 80 to worry about exercise and diet."

Practising what he preaches, Ron Dunham is leaving his stressful job heading a $400 million business, once a replacement is appointed.

"It's a good time to hand over to someone else."