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Ian Powell
Otaihanga Second Opinion is a regular health systems blog in New Zealand.
Ian Powell is the editor of the health systems blog 'Otaihanga Second Opinion.' He is also a columnist for New Zealand Doctor, occasional columnist for the Sunday Star Times, and contributor to the Victoria University hosted Democracy Project. For over 30 years , until December 2019, he was the Executive Director of Salaried Medical Salaried Medical Specialists, the union representing senior doctors and dentists in New Zealand.
Ian Powell - Latest News [Page 1]
Tone-deaf Health System Leadership: Business Consultants And A Symbolic Specialist Resignation
Tuesday, 28 November 2023, 5:55 pm | Ian Powell
The catalyst for the heading of this blog was a text I recently received from a former district health board (DHB) chair on the response of Health New Zealand (Te Whatu Ora) to a paywalled article by journalist Isaac Davison in the NZ Herald (24 ... More >>
Why Labour Lost The 2023 Election So Badly
Thursday, 23 November 2023, 1:57 am | Ian Powell
On 1 August 2017 Jacinda Ardern was elected leader of the opposition Labour Party in extraordinary circumstances. Opinion polls were showing Labour heading towards a massive fourth consecutive electoral defeat in September. National meanwhile was ... More >>
No Pressure Dr Reti But Starting On The Right Foot Is Critical
Tuesday, 7 November 2023, 7:32 pm | Ian Powell
With the final election count now confirmed it is clear that Aotearoa New Zealand will soon be governed by a National-ACT-NZ First coalition. Further, not that there was any prior doubt, Dr Shane Reti (a general practitioner) will be the next minister ... More >>
Food Sovereignty Versus Profit-maximisation
Tuesday, 24 October 2023, 7:55 pm | Ian Powell
In late January 2020 New Zealand’s trade minister David Parker got the “cold sweats”. This is according to The Economist (9 May 2020; paywalled): The world’s vulnerable food system . The context was China’s decision to ban ... More >>
The Importance Of Speaking Out (Voice) In Health Systems
Sunday, 22 October 2023, 6:03 am | Ian Powell
Voice is one of the most critical features of a robust health system. The experiences and concerns of patients and their families are often given voice. This is a good thing. Health systems learn from their voices. Equally important is the voice of ... More >>
Will Tennessee Threaten The Medical Workforce In New Zealand (with A Little Bit Of Help From Dolly Parton)
Thursday, 12 October 2023, 5:37 am | Ian Powell
Recently I came across an interesting article by Alicia Gallegos and published in the Medscape Journal of Medicine (26 June). I had not previously considered the possibility of a development in the American state of Tennessee potentially impacting negatively ... More >>
Protecting The Safety Of The Public; Or Not!
Tuesday, 3 October 2023, 9:41 pm | Ian Powell
In 2003 then Health Minister Annette King oversaw the successful passing of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act (HPCAA). It has proved to be landmark embedded legislation The Act brought together registration for all the recognised ... More >>
When Senior Doctors Snap
Saturday, 16 September 2023, 5:51 am | Ian Powell
The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists is the union that represents salaried senior doctors (including dentists). It is one of the highest membership density unions in the country. Overwhelmingly its members are employed by Health New Zealand ... More >>
Health Leadership Control Culture Threatens Mental Health Services (and Beyond)
Tuesday, 12 September 2023, 6:28 am | Ian Powell
Thank goodness for investigative journalism. As Aotearoa New Zealand’s health system becomes less and less transparent, the work of investigative journalists becomes more and more important. This is especially so when it provides voice to those who ... More >>
Cuban Health System Lessons
Saturday, 2 September 2023, 5:52 am | Ian Powell
Previously I have published pieces on what Aotearoa New Zealand can learn from Cuba’s health system. This was largely about the over 11 million population nation’s remarkable progress in high tech vaccine production in response to the Covid-19 pandemic ... More >>
Evolution Of New Zealand’s Health System Up To Pae Ora Act 2022
Friday, 18 August 2023, 6:20 am | Ian Powell
Early this month I was invited by the New Zealand Branch of the Australian and New Zealand Oral & Maxillo-Facial Surgeons (ANZOMS) two give two addresses to their annual general meeting in Queenstown (4 and 5 August). It provided a great ... More >>
Health Minister Must End Privatised Hospital Laboratory “Cash Cow”
Wednesday, 9 August 2023, 7:02 am | Ian Powell
Medical scientist Elaine Booker has recently resigned her job at Southland Hospital’s laboratory. With the approval of then Labour Minister of Health Pete Hodgson, both the Dunedin and Southland hospital laboratories were privatised in 2007. Privatising ... More >>
Te Whatu Ora – What We Now Have, What Are Its Risks And What Should It Be Done To Make It Better For Patient-care
Monday, 7 August 2023, 11:21 am | Ian Powell
Alternative heading: How can we get out of this crap? Ian Powell Health system commentator and blogger Former Executive Director, Association of Salaried Medical Specialists Presentation to New Zealand Branch Annual General Meeting Australian and New Zealand ... More >>
The Real Philanthropists
Sunday, 23 July 2023, 7:46 pm | Ian Powell
On 12 July many New Zealanders were stunned by Prime Minister Chris Hipkins’ unexpected announcement (called a ‘Captain’s Call’) that there would not be a capital gains or wealth tax on his watch: Prime Minister Hipkins rules out wealth and capital ... More >>
Conflict Of Interest And Aotearoa New Zealand’s Health System
Thursday, 13 July 2023, 7:07 pm | Ian Powell
While thinking about conflict of interest in Aotearoa New Zealand’s health system I accidentally came across these words by American folk singer Woody Guthrie in his Pretty Boy Floyd song recorded in 1940: Some will rob you with a six-gun, And some ... More >>
Privatised Hospital Laboratory Fiasco (and Profit Driven Fleecing) Continues
Thursday, 6 July 2023, 8:48 pm | Ian Powell
The ongoing fiasco that is Aotearoa New Zealand’s laboratory system which effects around 70% of clinical decisions not only continues unabated; it goes from worse to worser. The nub of the issue is the privatisation of the health system’s public ... More >>
Let’s Call Transphobia By Its Real Name – Sickening Bigotry
Sunday, 2 July 2023, 5:58 am | Ian Powell
If someone had said that I should write on transgender rights when I began my Political Bytes blog in January 2021, I would have said nonsense. Partly this was because I didn’t appreciate the level of intense bigotry and hatred of those opposed to their ... More >>
More Medical Student Places Good But There’s A Mammoth In The Room!
Tuesday, 27 June 2023, 10:50 pm | Ian Powell
The announcement by Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall of the Government’s decision to increase the number of medical student places in our two university based medical schools (Auckland and Otago) was overdue (the last increase was in 2015) but welcome. ... More >>
On The Māori Health Authority
Friday, 23 June 2023, 7:50 am | Ian Powell
Rob Campbell on Māori Health Authority Rob Campbell appears to be on an adrenaline driven burst of writing since his dismissal as Chair of Health New Zealand (Te Whatu Ora) which shows no sign of diminishing. This is a good thing. I have a vested interest. ... More >>
Affectional Empathy And The Living Wage
Wednesday, 31 May 2023, 7:59 pm | Ian Powell
One of the things I get a buzz out of is trying to place a practical issue within a theoretical construct. I was prompted to give this a go after reading an article in the New York Review of Books published on 8 December 2022. The practical ... More >>
