KEY POINTS:
When Jaimes Wood was first approached to be the chief executive of St John, he really wasn't all that interested. Having been the chief executive of Castrol New Zealand, he didn't exactly fancy working for a charity.
"I was not in the least keen to join the third sector, as it is sometimes called. I had thought it was soft. I had thought it was not as performance driven as the commercial sector," Wood says.
Eventually the Johannesburg native was persuaded take the wheel of New Zealand's largest ambulance service. But he admits his lifesaving skills are limited.
"I've never been in the health sector. I'm not a medical person. I'm a manager."
Wood says his skills lie in managing people, resources and assets whether that's for an oil company or a community services organisation.
"I don't get into the back of an ambulance and help ambulance officers ever. Yes, I do go to observe and to learn and to develop an appreciation of what our people do. But my job is to see that we have the people, we have the resources, we have the equipment, we have the processes and systems in place to facilitate what is delivered by them," Wood says.
St John has just over 2,000 paid staff but also has an army of more than 6,000 volunteers and 4,700 members in its youth programmes. It's been around since 1885 and offers ambulance services to 85 per cent of the population. With more than 200,000 emergency callouts each year, St John needs to run like a well-oiled machine. But despite a diploma in mechanical engineering, Wood says the machine has its challenges.
"I came into an organisation that had been cherished and nurtured for many many years and was a large organisation in New Zealand terms, iconic in this country and with a heap of challenges. There's a unique mix of paid and volunteer people and that would be one of the most significant challenges I have found."
Wood has worked in South Africa, Taiwan, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and the UK. Since he joined St John as chief executive in November 1999, one of his key initiatives has been to improve the 111 system.
"There were nine 111 call centres around the country - six of them run by St John and three run by other organisations. It was very clear to me that this was not a sustainable position," Wood says.
The communications centre project saw $17 million poured into the 111 system. Six call centres were migrated into three - one in each of the main centres.
"We have literally gone from hugely varied, some first-world stuff but some third world across those nine centres, to good world-class telecommunications, automatic vehicle location, data transmittal/data capture communication centres."
With a dire shortage of healthcare workers, St John implemented its award winning Friends of the Emergency Department (FEDS) in 2000. It consists of 600 volunteers spread across 13 hospitals.
"These are volunteers that we've put into the emergency departments of hospitals to do the sorts of things that emergency departments can no longer do. This is hold a hand, console, call a mother, fetch a cup of tea, explain why they're waiting so long," Wood says.
Wood also oversees the Citizenship Development Programme which delivers first aid training, healthcare, self discipline and general life skills to youths aged from six to 18. Wood is also responsible for 185 ambulance stations which provide services to places as remote as Stewart Island, Pitt Island and the Chatham Islands. The only areas St John does not cover are Wairarapa, Taranaki and Wellington. But Wood says a lot of his job is trying to get the message out that St John is more than an ambulance operator.
"Most of our focus has been on insuring that we are well engaged with the key government agencies, the state-owned enterprises that we do work for and insuring that trust and understanding is there."
St John attends around 7,500 events a year which include everything from a super competition rugby match to concerts.
"They're there to look after the crowd often as the consequence of drinks, drugs and rock 'n' roll. A Big Day Out up in Auckland will have 120 St John people there, probably 110 of them volunteers," Wood says.
Wood's main concerns are maintaining clinical competency among staff, maintaining public confidence and maintaining funding. But there are some ambulance officers in the unions who don't feel Wood is doing enough to solve staffing shortages.
"The ambulance officers and their unions are advocating strongly, probably more vociferous than us, for full crewing of ambulances. So that's two ambulance officers in each ambulance," Wood says.
Some ambulances are going out with just one officer which compromises the safety of the patient and themselves.
"Very sadly, we constantly have incidences of ambulance officers being physically attacked when they respond to scenes. That has increased in recent years."
Wood admits there are still challenges ahead. He never tried to become an instant expert in the way he has seen so many other executives do when they enter a new organisation.
"In fact, it was many years before I got into the back of an ambulance. I think it was three years before I got into the back of an ambulance and went on observer-ships."
He lets the ambulance officers focus on saving lives while he manages the overall system.
"I still would not suggest for one minute that I'm an authority on the practice of an ambulance officer. I do understand the bigger picture - the funding dynamics, the logistical dynamics and the system requirements. But actual clinical care - that's not me," Wood says.
For someone who was never interested in working in the 'third sector', Wood has certainly warmed to the idea over the past seven years.
"It's enormously rewarding. I mean, to make a difference in an organisation like this that is genuinely making differences in the community all the time is very satisfying. Not only do we have the satisfaction of solid financial or commercial or key performance indicators, this is an organisation that is out saving lives every day and helping people every day."
It treats and transports more than 300,000 patients a year. Wood says becoming the leader of such a large organisation happens by taking small steps.
"You start small, get given opportunities and given guidance by people and mentoring. Let me not suggest for a minute that I have any or all of the answers now. I learn daily from people who work for me, people who work with me and people who I work for. If anything, as you get older you probably have a deeper appreciation of how little you know," Wood says.
But one thing Wood now knows for sure is that he's not interested in leaving St John anytime soon.
"I continue to be challenged. While the challenges are there and the progress is there and my board is satisfied with what I'm doing, I wouldn't be in a hurry to move."
