'Seize power' doctors urged

A leading health professional has hit out at health sector leaders with their "heads in the clouds" and called for practising health professionals to "seize power" from politicians and public servants in senior health management roles.

Association of Salaried Medical Specialists' president Jeff Brown yesterday said the best way to get the best value from the Government's health spending was for health professionals to assume senior leadership roles.

Addressing the association's national conference in Wellington, Dr Brown, a Palmerston North paediatrician, said although more money was being poured into health spending than ever before, medical specialists found themselves and their workplaces under more stress.

That was matched by a public perception the health system was crumbling.

"Neither politicians nor public servants enjoy the mismatch between perceptions and policy. "

Dr Brown said the answer was for health professionals to assume leadership roles. "Only when those who swim in the currents and rips of medical practice determine the dispersal of lifeguards can the public safely dive in."

Health professionals had unique relationships with patients.

"There is none other as well equipped to lead the team, as well qualified to make the difficult decisions, as well trained to tailor the dollar to the demand."

Dr Brown said leadership in the health sector had to come from current health professionals, "those at the coalface - to those with feet firmly grounded in daily patient contact, not those with heads in the clouds of fondly remembered but distant past practice".

"In a country of only four million with 21 DHBs and layers of managerial manipulation, the only rational way to improve both public and professional confidence is to have health professional-led networks," he said.

"Seize power, not for its own sake, but to effect change."

- NZPA