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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 Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, the union representing senior doctors and dentists in New Zealand.
Ian Powell - Latest News [Page 1]
Fixing Health
Tuesday, 27 October 2026, 9:23 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses a pertinent article by a former experienced health system leader on whether the election health policies of the two largest political parties will ‘fix health’. More >>
Investing In Workforce For Better Healthcare And A Better Return For The Health Dollar
Thursday, 22 October 2026, 4:17 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses why investing in the workforce both improves the quality of healthcare for patients and generates a better return for the health dollar. More >>
NZ First Health Policy; Lazy, Simplistic, Vibes And Vitamins; But No Evidence
Sunday, 18 October 2026, 2:35 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses the controversy over New Zealand First’s ‘copy-and-paste’ health policy describing it as lazy and simplistic vibes and vitamins as well as being devoid of evidence. More >>
Learning From Surging Respiratory Hospitalisations
Wednesday, 14 October 2026, 5:54 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses what can be learned from the large increase in respiratory hospitalisations in New Zealand’s public hospitals over the past three years and where does decision-making responsibility reside. More >>
Donald Trump: In Search Of A 1933 Reichstag Fire
Saturday, 10 October 2026, 5:32 am | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses the desperate search by Donald Trump and his MAGA movement for a moment like the Reichstag Fire in Germany in 1933 that Adolf Hitler successfully used to establish his Nazi dictatorship. More >>
How I Would Establish Trust And Confidence In Health New Zealand (On A Best Endeavours Basis Only)
Sunday, 4 October 2026, 6:28 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses why it is necessary to establish trust and confidence in Health New Zealand (beginning with its workforce) and how best to do this. More >>
New Zealand Loses Two-Thirds Of Recruited Overseas Trained Medical Specialists Within Five Years
Monday, 28 September 2026, 12:38 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses the issue of why so many overseas-trained medical specialists recruited to New Zealand leave the country so quickly. More >>
Health Minister Misses Health Targets – Yet Again
Sunday, 20 September 2026, 7:51 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses how New Zealand’s health minister misses the target with his health targets, particularly with respect to public hospitals. More >>
'Ripe Fruit Territory' And New Zealand's Vote In UN General Assembly On US Blockade Of Cuba
Friday, 18 September 2026, 4:00 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses New Zealand’s response to the forthcoming vote in the United Nations General Assembly on the US blockade of Cuba in the context of the ‘ripe fruit theory’. More >>
Public Hospitals Were Already Overflowing Before Winter Flu Outbreak
Sunday, 13 September 2026, 3:09 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell observes that the overflowing of New Zealand’s public hospitals was already occurring well before the current severe winter flu outbreak and discusses why this was so. More >>
Privatising First Specialist Assessments
Wednesday, 9 September 2026, 7:14 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses the Government’s move to extend its ideological obsession for privatisation to first specialist assessments in New Zealand’s public hospitals. More >>
Removing The ‘Veil Of Good Intentions’: A Lesson For New Zealand Foreign Policy
Sunday, 6 September 2026, 7:10 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses an insightful article from a White House insider on the veil of good intentions in US foreign policy and the removal of this veil by Donald Trump along with a lesson for New Zealand. More >>
Health New Zealand And Its Workforce Are Not ‘On The Same Page’
Thursday, 3 September 2026, 8:35 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses the serious riskes when the leadership of Health New Zealand (especially political) and its workforce are on different pages. More >>
Don’t Blame Jews For Israel’s Genocidal Ethnic Cleansing (Or For Zionism)
Saturday, 29 August 2026, 3:09 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses why Jews should not be blamed for genocidal ethnic cleansing and who should be blamed. More >>
Health Minister Drops Medical Council In A Right Political Pickle
Saturday, 22 August 2026, 12:02 pm | Ian Powell
New Zealand’s health Minister Simeon Brown has dropped the Medical Council in a right political pickle over his appointment of a doctor who promotes and sells his own supplements. More >>
It’s ‘A Song And A Prayer’: Hidden Cost Of 1,300 Unfilled Nursing Jobs
Sunday, 9 August 2026, 3:27 am | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses the exposed hidden cost of unfilled nursing jobs in New Zealand’s public hospitals forcing nurses to have to rely on a song and a prayer. More >>
Sinister ‘Free Speech Union’ Attacks Investigative Journalist For Being Investigative
Tuesday, 4 August 2026, 7:17 am | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses the wider implications and intrigue of the attack by the so-called Free Speech Union on an investigative journalist for being investigative. More >>
A Microscopic View That Highlights Worsening Crisis In Public Hospitals
Saturday, 1 August 2026, 5:43 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses the experience of the rundown of an orthopaedic department that highlights the worsening crisis in New Zealand’s acute public hospitals. More >>
Public Hospitals Increasingly Dependent On ‘Place-Holder Senior Doctors
Monday, 27 July 2026, 6:38 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses the blow-out of locum doctor costs in public hospitals, what sits behind it, and what approach should be taken. More >>
For Whom The Opportunity Bell Tolls
Tuesday, 21 July 2026, 3:18 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses the possibility of the Opportunity Party unending the forthcoming general election in New Zealand. Is the Party ‘for who the bell tolls”? More >>
