News that Health Minister David Clark will meet the authors of a damning gastroenterology report has been welcomed by the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS).

“Southern District Health Board’s gastroenterology service is in crisis, and a meeting between Dr Clark and the report’s authors is a necessary and positive step,” says ASMS Executive Director Ian Powell.

Mr Powell was commenting on this story in the Otago Daily Times: https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/relief-report-authors-can-meet-minister.

“Dr Clark is to be commended for being willing to meet Professor Phil Bagshaw and Steven Ding. It will hopefully be a catalyst to break the gridlock that has developed following the report’s release,” Mr Powell says.

“Its leadership has proven to be like a possum in the headlights time and time again when faced with pressing specialist shortages throughout the DHB.

“The report authors have identified resourcing as the main problem which largely comes down to specialist shortages. Many services in Southern DHB face critical specialist shortages but its leadership has been like a possum in the headlights instead of proactively seeking to resolve them.

“The SDHB cannot be left to its own devices to fix this,” Mr Powell says.

ENDS

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