Anaesthetic staffing at Wellington Hospital 2007

Press Release 15 March 2007

Anaesthetic staffing at Wellington Hospital

Dr Graham Sharpe, President of the New Zealand Society of Anaesthetists, met with the CEO of Capital Coast DHB, Margot Mains, today to discuss concerns about the retention and recruitment of senior anaesthetic staff at Wellington Hospital.

“I wish to express my regret at the resignation of Dr Sandy Garden and colleagues from the Department of Anaesthesia at Wellington. Their experience and expertise will be sorely missed but the Society is hopeful that a solution will be found to attract and retain senior staff.

“As President of the New Zealand Society of Anaesthetists, I am conscious of the need to support both present incumbents who continue to work at Wellington and those who have chosen to resign for personal reasons.

“I have every confidence that the Department will be able to continue to deliver safe anaesthesia services and wish to emphasise that the Wellington public should continue to have confidence in their public hospital. I have worked at Wellington hospital for 26 years and consider we have an excellent team of anaesthetic staff working there. The clinical work at Wellington is professionally demanding, but rewarding,” said Dr Sharpe.

Capital Coast DHB needs to address some key matters raised by the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists in relation to training requirements of anaesthetic registrars. “I have agreed to help the Hospital address these issues as a matter of urgency. However, we are in an international market for senior staff in a highly competitive environment. New Zealand is highly regarded for the standard of its training and quality of its anaesthetist workforce, and we see this as a vital requirement to be sustained and nurtured.”

Background
Drs Sandy Garden Clinical Director, Derek Snelling Deputy Director and Chris Thorn Supervisor of Training tendered their resignations on Friday 9 March to take effect in three months time.

The Australian New Zealand College of Anaesthetists are due to review the Department on 13 April 2007.