Senior Doctors Welcome Requirement For Leadership

“Senior Doctors Welcome Health Minister’s Requirement For Transformation Of DHB Leadership”

“Senior doctors welcome Health Minister Tony Ryall’s commitment requiring district health boards to transform their decision-making by introducing genuine clinical leadership,” said Mr Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, today. Mr Powell was referring to Mr Ryall’s release today of the In Good Hands report recommending the introduction of comprehensive clinical leadership in DHBs. Mr Ryall has endorsed the report and expects DHBs to be guided by it in implementing clinical leadership.

“In the main senior doctors and other clinicians are disengaged and marginalised with the result that DHB decision-making is less robust than what it should be. Comprehensive clinical leadership at all levels is required if we are to improve quality of care and cost effectiveness.”

“The report has teeth because it requires DHBs to report on the extent to which they have implemented clinical leadership at all levels within their organisations. Further teeth is provided in the Health Minister’s Letter of Expectations to DHBs last month in which he said DHB chairs, chief executives and senior managers would be held to account over whether they introduced clinical leadership. Implementing of the In Good Hands report is what they will be taken to account over.”

“Mr Ryall has gone further than any health minister in giving political direction to DHBs for the implementation of genuine rather than tokenistic clinical leadership. His predecessors used persuasion over the years but regrettably this has been insufficient.”

“The In Good Hands report builds on and is part of the operationalising of the ground-breaking Time for Quality Agreement signed last year by us and the 21 DHBs” concluded Mr Powell.

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