Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
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 2]
Trump Deserves The Nobel Peace Prize
Saturday, 24 January 2026, 3:20 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses with an overdose of cynicism why Donald Trump should have been awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize. More >>
High Court Provides An Opportunity For Political Puberty Blocker Ban Review
Monday, 19 January 2026, 1:08 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses the High Court injunction on the puberty blocker ban in New Zealand and the opportunity for Cabinet to reconsider the issue as a clinical rather than political one. More >>
Bondi Beach Murderous Terrorism
Thursday, 15 January 2026, 7:06 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses the mass terrorist slaughter at Bondi Beach and the shameful attempt to use it to smear opponents of genocide in Gaza. More >>
Consequences Of Hospital Maternity Systems Failure And Unsafe Staffing Levels
Monday, 12 January 2026, 12:15 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses when systems failure leads to unsafe staffing which in turn causes tragic outcomes in the context of a Health & Disability Commissioner decision contributing to a stillborn baby. More >>
Nicolás Maduro Kidnapping, US Imperialist Expansion And Implications For New Zealand
Friday, 9 January 2026, 8:00 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses the implications of the US military attack on and political abductions in Venezuela including fabrications and agendas. More >>
Free Speech – The Ethics Of Conviction And The Ethics Of Responsibility
Friday, 19 December 2025, 8:02 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses the issue in the context of the ethics of conviction and the ethics of responsibility including neo-liberalism in the United Kingdom and New Zealand. More >>
Getting Our Health System Out Of The Poop Begins With An Engagement, Empowerment And Relational Cultural Shift
Thursday, 18 December 2025, 8:03 pm | Ian Powell
This is the second of a two-part series on how New Zealand’s health system got into its current poop and how it might get out of it. More >>
How Did Our Health System Get Into This Poop
Monday, 8 December 2025, 8:28 pm | Ian Powell
The restructuring initiated by former health minister Andrew Little (and Jacinda Ardern’s kitchen cabinet) is responsible for substantially increasing the poop that Aotearoa’s health system now finds it in. More >>
Puberty Blockers Ban – A Political Or Clinical Decision?
Saturday, 6 December 2025, 6:27 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses the Government’s decision to ignore clinical expert advice and ban puberty blockers for young people suffering gender dysphoria. More >>
Tucker Carlson ‘Tuckered Out’ With Donald Trump And Israel: Insights For New Zealand Right Wing Politics
Sunday, 30 November 2025, 4:53 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses the public fall-out between fellow far right-wingers Tucker Carlson and Donald Trump and the insights it might provide for New Zealand politics. More >>
What’s The Difference Between Private Management Of Public Hospitals And A ‘Perfumed Turd’?
Sunday, 23 November 2025, 1:18 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses the pitch by Serco to run public hospitals, including new builds and public private partnerships, in New Zealand. More >>
Gaza Doctor Speaks Truth To Genocidal Power; New Zealand Government Needs To Listen, Learn And Act
Thursday, 20 November 2025, 2:00 pm | Ian Powell
The message of Dylan’s song is relevant to New Zealand’s National-ACT-NZ First government’s pro-Israeli occupation approach to this genocide. More >>
General Practices And Primary Health Organisations Fighting Back Against Corporate Threat
Sunday, 9 November 2025, 2:09 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses the response of general practices and Primary Health Organisations to increasing corporate power in general practice ownership, including private equity investors. More >>
Far-Right Cannibalising The Mainstream Right-Wing; Implications For New Zealand
Monday, 3 November 2025, 7:23 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell Discusses Whether The Trend Of The Far Right Cannibalising The Mainstream Rightwing In Europe Might Follow Into New Zealand In The Context Of Uneven And Combined Development. More >>
Private Health Insurance A Symptom, Not A Cause, Of New Zealand’s Public Health System Crisis
Thursday, 30 October 2025, 2:20 pm | Ian Powell
‘Pay-as-you-go’ remains a threat to private health insurance but the greater threat is now the rundown of public hospitals due to the political leaderships of successive governments. More >>
Health Minister Unethical Over Medical Ethics
Sunday, 26 October 2025, 6:11 am | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses, with a bit of help from Hippocrates, Health Minister Simeon Brown’s accusation that senior doctors taking strike action were crossing an ethical line. More >>
The Ignoble Nobel: From Hitler To Kissinger To Machado
Sunday, 19 October 2025, 6:08 am | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses the controversy over the awarding of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. More >>
Politics, Ideology And Health Targets
Wednesday, 15 October 2025, 7:09 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses how health targets have evolved to the point of shifting from a policy to a legislative requirement. More >>
Corporate Ownership Of General Practices Extends Power Into Primary Care Organisations
Sunday, 12 October 2025, 7:05 pm | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses the extension of corporate ownership of general practices into Primary Care Organisations in New Zealand’s health system. More >>
A Sinking Heart Over Palestine Non-Recognition Decision
Wednesday, 1 October 2025, 8:29 am | Ian Powell
Ian Powell discusses the decision of, and reaction to, the New Zealand government not to recognise the state of Palestine. More >>
