New Appointment – Australasian College of Surgeons

Media Advisory – Royal Australasian College of Surgeons

New Appointment

15.9.2009

Orthopaedic Surgeon Allan Panting has been appointed Executive Director of Surgical Affairs for the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) in New Zealand – he replaces John Simpson, who has recently retired after 10 years of sterling service.

Allan Panting has worked as a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at the Nelson Hospital for the past 29 years and is a trustee of the Wishbone Trust – set up to support Orthopaedic research in New Zealand. He was the 2005 recipient of New Zealand’s most prestigious surgical award, the Colin McRae Medal.

He has been closely involved with the New Zealand Orthopaedic Association (NZOA) – serving as the Association Secretary from 1988 to 1992 and subsequently as a member of the Executive and as President in 1998.

He has also served on the New Zealand Board of RACS, was an examiner for the RACS fellowship examination for eight years, and has recently completed almost four years as Deputy Chair of the Court of Examiners.

A former Chairman of the NZ Vietnam Health Trust, Allan Panting has been a leader in providing surgical aid to Vietnam. He has worked at the Qui Nhon hospital in Vietnam and has helped establish orthopaedic facilities at the hospital as well as assisting with the provision of surgical equipment and sponsoring Vietnamese surgeons to visit New Zealand for educational purposes.

John Simpson has worked as a general surgeon, a breast surgeon, a researcher and teacher in the UK, New Zealand and South Africa. He was Clinical Senior Lecturer in Surgery at the Wellington School of Medicine, and is a former Medical Director of General Surgery at Hutt Valley Health.

A former Chairman of the New Zealand Committee from 1994-1996 John Simpson has held a wide range of positions for RACS. He was responsible for chairing a number of review committees in hospitals, health centres and DHBs around New Zealand.

Allan Panting will work part time in the new position and will continue working as an orthopaedic surgeon in Nelson.

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