NEWS HR
December 11, 2017
Southern Cross Medical Care Society has appointed Nick Astwick as its new CEO.
October 31, 2017
Waikato DHB’s executive director Mental Health and Addictions Services Derek Wright has been appointed as interim chief executive. Mr Wright replaces Dr Nigel Murray, who resigned on October 5.
October 27, 2017
Alliance Health Plus has appointed two new board members. Dr Primrose and Ms Sharon Shea have joined the mission to transform the health and well-being of Pacific and high needs communities.
September 25, 2017
A personal support worker caught on video repeatedly punching an elderly man in the head apologized to the man’s family, saying he would accept whatever sentence the court decided. Jie Xiao pleaded guilty in July to one count of assault in connection with the attack four months earlier on 89-year-old Georges Karam. Xiao, speaking in Mandarin through a translator at his sentencing hearing Thursday, told Karam’s family he was “deeply sorry for what I did.” Xiao, a 44-year-old permanent resident, told the court he did not intend to hurt Karam, but that in that moment he failed to remember his duty to his client. “I have used the wrong way of doing things,” he said.
September 21, 2017
A senior manager at the Auckland District Health Board has been sentenced for his part in stealing thousands of dollars of taxpayers’ money, some of which was used to pay for his daughter’s birthday party. Stephen John Paterson, 47, and a security guard stole thousands of health funds while Paterson was the commercial services manager at the ADHB and responsible for signing off invoices. He had worked at the ADHB for 21 years, first as an orderly, before being suspended in 2012 and leaving in 2013 following an internal investigation into his offending. Paterson was charged and found guilty by a jury earlier this year of theft, dishonestly using a document, and causing loss by deception. Judge Mary-Beth Sharp sentenced him to community detention and community work when he appeared in the Auckland District Court today.
September 18, 2017
Three nurses who are suspects in a police homicide inquiry are still employed by Counties Manukau District Health Board. A coroner’s inquest into the death of Auckland woman Heather Bills wrapped up in the Auckland District Court on Friday. Bills died in 2013 while in the care of Middlemore Hospital, having survived an explosive fire at her Ōrākei home six weeks earlier. Michele Maher, Heather Bills’ daughter, questioned witnesses at the inquest into her mother’s death. Neighbours rescued the 64-year-old from the blaze and she was admitted to hospital with serious burns. Six weeks later, however, she was dead, after suffering an irreversible brain injury caused by a large dose of insulin. The person who administered the insulin dose to Bills remains a mystery. During the inquest, police revealed they have three suspects in their own investigation, all of whom are nurses that worked on Bills’ care. Nurses who were witnesses at the inquest gave conflicting accounts of what happened the night she suffered the fatal brain injury. The inquest was also told Bills had offered to pay hospital staff to end her life. On Friday, a spokeswoman for Counties Manukau DHB confirmed it still employs all three nurses. “In 2013, when Ms Bills died, the police conducted a full investigation including interviewing the staff who had contact with Ms Bills,” the spokeswoman said. “The police investigation did not result in a prosecution of any individual. The DHB was also never advised that the police had any particular concerns about the acts or omissions of any particular individual.” Through the coronial process, the DHB had learnt for the first time that police had three suspects, and it had no proof of wrongdoing by any of those staff, the spokeswoman said. “The DHB has obligations to be a good employer in accordance with the State Services Act and must follow all the requirements of the laws protecting employees in New Zealand. “In the absence of any proof of wrongdoing, the DHB could not take action against an employee.” The spokeswoman added: “The DHB is co-operating with the coroner’s process, as it did with the police investigation. “If further information comes to light through the inquest process, or any other route, the DHB will consider that information and if appropriate will act on it.” On Wednesday, the DHB apologised over Bills’ death, and revealed it wasn’t until a number of days later that the possibility of homicide was raised. The acting chief executive of the DHB, Gloria Johnson, who was chief medical officer of the DHB when Bills died, gave evidence at the inquest. “I do want to take the opportunity to say how incredibly sorry I am, and I want to apologise on behalf of the DHB,” Johnson said to Bills’ daughter, Michelle Maher. Johnson added she still did not know how Bills came to be given the fatal dose. In recent years, there has been a spate of insulin murders in Australia. The coroner reserved her findings on Friday.
September 18, 2017
New senior managers are being appointed at Southern District Health Board after a long period of high-level departures. Since commissioner Kathy Grant was appointed in 2015, at least 10 executive-level managers have left the troubled organisation. This year, chief executive Chris Fleming restructured the leadership team and new head managers are being appointed. Patrick Ng has been appointed specialist services director, a role that used to be called chief operating officer. Mr Ng is a senior manager at Nelson Marlborough DHB, the board Mr Fleming led before taking the job at SDHB. Mr Ng will start in November. Lisa Gestro, a former senior manager at both the Accident Compensation Corporation and Auckland District Health Board, has been appointed to the top planning and funding role. Mr Fleming renamed it strategy, primary and community director. It oversees major purchasing decisions relating to community health, such as midwifery, aged care, and mental health. The crucial chief finance role remains unfilled. Departing finance head Clive Smith, who has been at the board for about 18 months, is acting in the role in the meantime. Mr Fleming said he was pleased by the calibre of applicants for the leadership team.
September 14, 2017
Sir Richard Faull has been appointed as Patron of Alzheimers NZ.
