director of public health nz

One of the more interesting aspects of the course of the Covid-19 pandemic in New Zealand since March 2020 has been the development of the role of the Director-General of Health. Every morning, get a snapshot of Newsrooms top 10 stories delivered to your inbox. A national system was set up quickly so critical details could be more easily shared, as well as the workload. The focus ministers, the Prime Minister in particular, have placed on the Director-General, from the advice given to the Cabinet through to the constant participation in the increasingly political government media conferences, overlooks the reality that the legal responsibility from a public health perspective still rests with the Director of Public Health, who has been seen only when the Director-General is not available. This follows the director general of health's surprise resignation that was announced earlier today, with his last day at the end of July. Gregory Evans - Public Health Medicine Registrar, Office of the She is also a director on the boards of Beyond Blue, Australia's most recognised mental health charity. He served as the chief executive of the Ministry of Health and the country's Director-General of Health from 2018 to 2022. Renewed council efforts to control Otagos most notorious pest are not equal to the task of keeping rabbit numbers down a review has found. She comes from a clinical background, beginning her experience with nursing and has worked in frontline mental health services and leadership roles in District Health Boards. During this time, Margie led the organisation through major incidents including a measles epidemic, Whakaari White Island and was lead CEO of the Northern Regions COVID-19 outbreak response. *See Pacific Health regional structure under Regional Leadership below. [6], In the 2023 New Year Honours, McElnay was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order, for services to public health. In her previous role, Abbe worked with the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health in Brisbane, supporting the development of community-controlled commissioning frameworks for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Dr Jones is very well-respected in the health sector, and he brings considerable experience and knowledge with him.. [2], McElnay, one of seven children, grew up on a farm in Bushmills, Northern Ireland. That is no real surprise but will exacerbate the situation that has been allowed to develop with the Director-General. As the Acting Director-General, Dr Sarfati has focused on implementing and embedding the health system reforms. Hawke's Bay doctor lands top job at Ministry of Health - NZ Herald Details of expenditure for the Director-General of Health. [14], Between 2004 and 2006, Bloomfield was the Ministry of Health's acting director of public health. The Commission is running a recruitment process for the permanent Director-General of Health role and will advertise shortly. Either way, it goes beyond the normal brief of the Director-General, and is further confirmation of the unhealthy politicisation of the role. With whnau whakapapa to Tikitiki in Tairawhiti, Peter is committed to achieving health equity for Mori and other priority populations. [18] Former prime minister, Geoffrey Palmer, remarked about Bloomfield: "It is a long time since a public servant has become so well-known. I specialised as a Public Health Medicine Physician after completing my Masters of Public Health through the University of Otago. Dr Nicholas Jones was announced on Monday as the new director of public health at the NZ Ministry of Health. At the same time, however, the minister was required to have regard to the advice of the Director-General. Over her career, she has led teams and business units ranging in size from nine to 900 people. No longer does he appear as the impartial adviser offering considered, detached professional advice to the Government, but rather more as the explainer, amplifier, and defender of the Government decisions, in a manner that not even many ministers demonstrate. Avg. And in the midst of a pandemic caused by an airborne virus, where are the riskiest places to be? This includes roles at the Ministry of Health (Deputy Director-General of Health), Counties Manukau District Health Board, Capital & Coast District Health Board, Labour Market Policy Group (Department of Labour) and Health Funding Authority. This included working for the National Hauora Coalition and Procare Health and Homecare Medical. [24][25][26], In November 2020, Bloomfield was named one of the best-dressed men on David Hartnell's best-dressed list. McElnay, whose last day is tomorrow and whose resignation was announced to ministry staff in February, has regularly fronted press conferences throughout the pandemic, usually when Bloomfield has been away. The Covid-19 emergency legislation was due to expire next May after two years, but the Government has recently introduced legislation to extend it for a further year. How does the Director-General step down from the quasi-ministerial current situation he will have been allowed to enjoy for nearly three years to the more routine one, sitting outside with every other chief executive waiting for the Cabinets decisions on matters affecting their portfolios, rather than sitting inside the room actively participating anymore? by section 111(1) of the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act 2000 (2000 No 91). [8], Bloomfield graduated Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery from the University of Auckland in 1990. She has worked at University of Otago Department of Public Health since 2004 and was Associate Professor and Professor there from 2013. Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said he was sad Bloomfield was leaving and he had saved thousands of lives. Currently focusing in holistic Health and Population health promotion and prevention projects and models. The Director-General of Health will lead the Ministry and, alongside the chief executives of Health New Zealand and the Mori Health Authority, the wider sector through the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the forthcoming significant change to New Zealands health system. Robyn came to Manat Hauora with a vast range of sector experience having been the CEO for Te Pou o te Whakaaro nui for ten years. Find out more about how we operate on the Our Structure page of this website. The Director-General of Health is a pivotal role leading a sector critical to the overall wellbeing of New Zealanders. Historically, the role of the Director-General, as chief executive of the Ministry of Health, has been to ensure the ministry carries out its statutory functions, including the medium and long-term sustainability of the public health system and is able to offer free and frank advice to successive governments. Director-General of Health appointed 30 November 2022 The Deputy Public Service Commissioner has today announced the appointment of Dr Diana Sarfati as Director-General of Health and Chief Executive, Ministry of Health. But, sadly, yet again, rather than rely on previous practice or international advice, this Government thought it knew best. [3][4][6], Bloomfield grew up in Tawa, a suburb of Wellington, and was educated at Scots College, where he was head prefect,[3] dux, played 1st XV rugby[7] and was a member of the cast of the college's production of Oklahoma! [2] Our structure - Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand She has been Chief Executive of Te Aho o Te Kahu, the Cancer Control Agency since May 2020. Last weekend, the Director-General announced that the country should not expect to ever return to Alert Level 1 the way it used to be. She also contributed to the set-up of the Childrens Ministry. Bloomfield will be in his role for the first stages of the new health system, with the establishment of Health NZ and the Mori Health Authority from July 1, replacing the country's 20 district . Dr Jacobs was previously the WHO Representative to Lao People's Democratic Republic from . [20] Facebook pages and merchandise have been created celebrating Bloomfield, and at least one person has had his image tattooed on their body. Nicola Hill will act as Chief Executive of the Cancer Control Agency while Dr Sarfati is acting Director-General of Health. More recently he has been part of the DHB Executive Leadership Team as Health Improvement and Equity Clinical Director. Consumers should seek advice from a health professional and not act in reliance on any statement contained in the information provided. Caroline McElnay - Public Health Specialist - Freelance - LinkedIn This article, written by David Codyre, Ainsleigh Cribb-Sua and David Todd, outlines progress in rollout, challenges faced and what is being learnt, Health priorities of older adults often include longevity, however health outcomes such as quality of life and independence are often considered to be as important or more important than a long life. Lorraine started her career as a registered nurse and then progressed into roles as a Nursing Leader and Nursing Director accountable for strategy, workforce planning, policy and primary healthcare delivery. Clare trained as a graduate nurse at Guys Hospital London, making Aotearoa New Zealandher home in 1986. Dr Ashley Bloomfield's temporary director general of health - NZ Herald Post comments with a Newsroom Pro subscription. Director, Promotion - Kathrine Clarke. [10], From late 2010 to late 2011, based at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Bloomfield worked on non-communicable disease prevention and control with a global focus. Im pleased to announce that Dr Nicholas Jones will take the role of Director of Public Health, which is so important to the health and wellbeing of New Zealanders, Dr Bloomfield says. Salary: NZ$68,467 Patient Counseling Avg. Jeremy started his career as a Royal Engineer officer in the in the British Army where he held a variety of leadership roles delivering critical infrastructure and large-scale construction programmes on deployed operations and across the defence estate. But it cant continue to conceal its hand for long. Dr Bramley has held a number of senior roles across the health system over the years, including being a member of the national health committee, national ethics committee and most recently a member of the ministerial review committee for continuous improvement for the COVID-19 response. Dr Diana Sarfati was appointed to the role of Director-General of Health and Chief Executive of the Ministry of Health in November 2022 having acted in the role since July 2022. Joe is an experienced clinical and people leader with a passion for being the bridge between policy and strategy, healthcare operations, and clinical standards to deliver tangibly better outcomes across Aotearoa. All this was avoidable. Prior to this Dr Sarfati was National Director of Cancer Control at the Ministry of Health to oversee the implementation of the agency. In other words, it would generally be expected that the Director-Generals advice would be accepted by the minister. Executive leadership team | Ministry of Health NZ Over her career, Maree has had a variety of roles including as a Private Secretary, managing employment and skills policy in the Department of Labour, and working for the Ministry of Education in Christchurch following the earthquakes. 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Interim Director, Prevention - Astrid Koornneef. A new Director of Public Health has been appointed and will join Manat Hauora on 15 August, Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield says. Dr Nicholas Jones, who is currently Clinical Director and Medical Officer of Health at Te Whatu Ora Te Matau a Mui, Hawke's Bay, will take up the role based in the Public Health Agency. That is all very well but the far stronger counter argument is that it is in precisely such circumstances that the normal rules should be adhered to ensure that the best decisions are reached. ", "Coronavirus: Ashley Bloomfield is the face of NZ's virus defence", "The face of the Covid-19 response: Who is Ashley Bloomfield? As lead for Performance Improvement, she was instrumental in delivering new equity approaches within planned care delivery in Auckland. The longer it goes on, the more difficult it will be to return to a more normal situation. Joe has worked in Te Puke since 2003 and is a practising GP, working in an inter-disciplinary team at Poutiri Wellness Centre, a kaupapa Moripractice. This campaign aims to reduce low-value health care and improve patient experiences. [10] Former health reporter Tess Nichol, writing for the American online magazine Slate, described him as "New Zealand's current obsession, an unlikely heartthrob, a mild-mannered health care hero". John originally joined the Ministry of Health in 1993, as a foundation member of the then newly established Mori Health Directorate, Te Kete Hauora. She has been an impressive leader at the Cancer Control Agency., Dr Sarfati has considerable experience and a sound understanding of New Zealands health system and has strong relationships across the sector.. Jeremy holds a Master of Business Administration, is a Chartered Engineer and is a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (UK). [21][22][23] When Bloomfield played for an invitational Centurions side in their 2020 rugby match against the Parliamentary team, children took placards to the game to support him. Health Act 1956 No 65 (as at 01 July 2022), Public Act - New Zealand Photo: Pool/Robert Kitchin, Stuff. National Director Commissioning Abbe Anderson, Chief Financial Officer Rosalie Percival, Interim Lead, Data and Digital Stuart Bloomfield, Chief Infrastructure and Investment Officer Jeremy Holman, Interim Lead, Corporate Services Sue Gordon, Interim Chief, Strategy, Planning & Performance Tracey Maisey, Interim Lead, Communications & Engagement Deidre Hill, Regional Director-National Public Health Service Dr Hayden McRobbie, Regional Director-Hospital and Specialist Services Mark Shepherd, Regional Wayfinder - Commissioning - Danny Wu (Interim), Regional Director- National Public Health Service Dr Natasha White, Regional Director- Hospital and Specialist Services Chris Lowry, Regional Wayfinder - Commissioning -Nicola Ehau (from 7 Feb), Interim Regional Director - National Public Health Service Peter Gush, Regional Director- Hospital and Specialist Services Russell Simpson, Regional Wayfinder - Commissioning - Tricia Keelan (from 13 Feb), Regional Director - National Public Health Service Vince Barry, Regional Director - Hospital and Specialist Services - Dan Pallister-Coward, Regional Wayfinder - Commissioning -Chiquita Hansen (from 13 Feb). New Zealand Doctor Online is not a consumer medical advice service. She is a voluntary Chair of World Vision New Zealand. He led the health response to the Havelock North campylobacter outbreak, co-chaired the Healthy Housing Coalition, provided leadership and expert advice on environmental health issues such as water regulation, and more recently was pivotal to Hawkes Bays COVID-19 response. Specializing in Health Promotion, and Public health project designing, service delivery and leadership. They bring their business and sector knowledge, extensive people and programme leadership experience, and highly . The PM has the communication skills to give New Zealanders confidence we can start soon to reopen our economy and country, but needs to employ them soon, writes Peter Dunne. The way in which this Government has abruptly elevated the role of the Director-General of Health to be virtually the most important public servant of all over the past 18 months will surely have disrupted the standing relationship between departmental chief executives that will not easily be restored once he is returned to the ranks so to speak. With the Government having decided in the middle of the pandemic to completely upend the organisation of the public health system over the next two to three years, and the current mounting crisis regarding the availability of intensive care beds, it would not be unreasonable to expect the Director-General to be at the centre of all those issues, but there currently seems to be a vacuum of official leadership or even interest in these matters. But here is where the problems arise. Former minister Peter Dunne says Judith Collins personalised attacks and Nationals ineffectiveness over the Covid response make it hard to take the Opposition party seriously. A new director of public health has been announced by the Ministry of Health. Dean has led the analytics function across the Ministry, focussing on growing capability and standardising the way in which analytics and analysis are created and used. In 2017 I worked as a project manager for a global health campaign called "Choosing Wisely" at Hutt Valley DHB. That would have meant many of the problems now so obvious could have been identified at the outset, and either mitigated or avoided completely, by people who knew something about them, rather than relying on health officials, with no relevant experience, no matter how personally dedicated they might be, to try to sort out. "I think that is terrible, and it's something we need to do something about.". New Zealand government works", "Covid 19 coronavirus: Dr Ashley Bloomfield taking holiday after 'relentless' six months", "All the weird and wonderful creative tributes to Dr Ashley Bloomfield", "Morrinsville woman gets portrait of Ashley Bloomfield tattooed on her leg", "Dr Ashley Bloomfield helps his Centurions XV team win the parliamentary rugby match", "Dr Bloomfield the 'Eliminator' to star alongside ex All Blacks", "Bloomfa! The Director is responsible for the overall delivery of their assigned workstream. She also led several change programmes relating to Child, Youth and Family, Vulnerable Children and the Ministerial Work Programme on Family and Sexual Violence. From January 2020 he was seconded to the COVID-19 response for the Northern Region of New Zealand, becoming the Chief Clinical Officer in February 2022. But the Health Act 1956 also provides that so long as the Director-General is a qualified medical practitioner, he or she can exercise the same powers in an emergency as a local Medical Officer of Health, but on a national basis. Between 2015 and 2019 Dr Sarfati was co-head and then head of the University of Otagos Department of Public Health. She has dedicated herself to providing the very best public health advice on a wide range of topics over her time at the ministry but I would like to thank her especially for her hard work on the Covid response and for her support to our team and colleagues across the sector. From mid-2020, Robyn was Acting Deputy Chief Executive and supported the Director General with areas such as workforce development, COVID response and cross agency relationships. Dr Nicholas Jones will take on the role as director of public health, the Ministry of Health has announced. New director of public health appointed | RNZ News [31], In the 2023 New Year Honours, Bloomfield was appointed a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to public health. DESIGNED AND POWERED BY PAGEMASTERS PUBLISH. Nor should they have been expected to instead a multi-disciplinary, cross-agency approach should have been taken from the outset, as called for in the previous National-led governments updated 2017 pandemic action plan, to manage all aspects of the Governments response. The question will still arise then about his future role. The ministry has also brought in a number of Medical Officers of Health, who have expertise in public health, on short term secondments from the sector, which means there remains a number of clinical staff in the sector able to be called on if needed.". National Director - Dr Nick Chamberlain. Love sport? He then spent six years working in the Ministry, culminating in management roles in both public health and Mori health (as Manager, Te Kete Hauora). During this time, she grew Te Pou to be internationally recognised for evidence-based workforce and information/research programmes in mental health, addiction and disability and she created strong sector partnerships to enhance peoples lives through service improvement. Health New Zealand has announced the significant appointment of Dr Nick Chamberlain as the National Director of the new National Public Health Service. Over the past few years, he has tried to provide some leadership and support for our Public Health Units, and with Vui Mark Gosche has led a small team promoting effective public policy and legislation. The director of public health will provide leadership across the Public Health Agency and support for medical staff. From 2015 to 2019, Diana wasthe co-head and then head of the Department of Public Health and the Director of the Cancer and Chronic Conditions (C3) research group at University of Otago, Wellington. Possible Range. She also led a Lancet Oncology series on cancer in small island developing states. There may be those who would say that the exigencies of the Covid-19 response have been such that it is pedantic and unrealistic to expect normal conventions to apply during such a time, when the focus should be on getting things done, rather than how they are done.