Sarah Dalton: Association of Salaried Medical Specialists Executive Director on Simeon Brown's calls for them to stop advocating

There are fears public health doctors are losing their ability to speak freely. 

They're being told they need permission before speaking out on regional issues which could impact public health. 

Health Minister Simeon Brown says he's fed up with them giving advice on things like fast-food. 

Association of Salaried Medical Specialists Executive Director Sarah Dalton told Francesca Rudkin Brown is overstepping. 

She says there are widespread concerns of attempts to silence doctors – to stop them speaking up on public health and patient safety issues. 

LISTEN ABOVE 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Doctors are being told they need permission before commenting on
regional issues that could impact public health. Health Minister Simeon
Brown says he's fed up with the doctors giving advice
on issues like fast food. Executive director of the Association
of Salary Medical Specialist Sarah Dalton is with me now,
good morning.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
Sarah, Good morning.

Speaker 1 (00:19):
Is Simon Brown overstepping the mark here?

Speaker 2 (00:22):
I think he is.

Speaker 1 (00:23):
Yeah, what's been the reaction by doctors.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
There's a real sense of unease, I think not just
within the National Public Health Service, but more widely that
there's an attempt to I guess silence doctors prevent them
from properly speaking up, both for issues of public health
and also patient safety. As far as public health goes,
it's a really key component of public health. Physicians and

(00:52):
particularly medical offices of health jobs to speak to issues
of broader public well being and them is the suggesting
that they confine themselves to immunizations is very narrow view
and is wrong. You know, there are lots of legislative
powers that medical offices of health have. I think if

(01:12):
the Minister is concerned about those who needs to work
through the proper parliamentary processes.

Speaker 1 (01:18):
He's saying, any advice needs to be signed off at
a national level. Is this even practical?

Speaker 2 (01:24):
Well, it flies in the face of certainly the direction
that Minister Reti was taking before him, of trying to
devolve back to local decision making across de fut To order.
That was very much an argument that was being put
and that, you know, the idea that taking a national
approach under to fut To Order was the wrong way

(01:44):
to go. So for regions have been established and under
that the districts remain. Certainly the PI order legislation talks
about localities and empowering people for local decision making that
suited the local context. So it would be really nice
to know consistently what this government actually wants, what they're

(02:04):
going to support. And I think local people understand that
what is right for in Chicago may not be right
for West Coast or the card Cutter. So I think,
you know, we need to we need to be sensible here,
but we also need to respect the significant training and
also responsibilities that a number of our senior doctors hold

(02:25):
under legislation that can get on with their work.

Speaker 1 (02:27):
Because do doctors actually have a duty to advise on
things like fast food.

Speaker 2 (02:32):
Yeah, they do. So that's a core component. You know,
medical public health is in some respect about the social
and commercial determinants of health. You know, their patients, if
you like, is the whole populations of whole communities as
wide as the whole of New Zealand. That's why you know,
immunizations is an easy example to understand that if enough

(02:55):
people get immunized, that's a health prevention activity. People are
less liked to be infected if in setious disease arrives, right,
and so it helps to prevent against that. People don't
always see as clearly the wider social harms that can
be caused, for example, about access to you know, alcohol, tobacco,

(03:17):
fast food. They absolutely have an impact on people's health
and well being. And if where you live you have
ready access to those things and you can't afford to
buy healthier food, that is also going to have an
impact at a community level on people's health and well being.
So doctors do have an obligation, based on evidence what

(03:38):
we know, to talk about those things.

Speaker 1 (03:41):
If doctors aren't giving the advice, who do we turn to.

Speaker 2 (03:44):
That's very good question, isn't it. I don't know, it's
a little early in the days. I mean to give
you a proper, a proper answer on that, but I
think you know. The point is, we have a trained
and qualified cohort of professionals who can give us that information.
Why would we not use it?

Speaker 1 (04:05):
So is there a plan to avoid the overreach here?

Speaker 2 (04:07):
Sarah, Well, we will keep supporting our members to speak
out about what the evidence says and about what is
the right thing to do. We certainly will continue to
support them to speak out for patient safety because I
think that is absolutely critical and that is what the
people of New Zealand want.

Speaker 1 (04:27):
Sarah Dalton, thank you for joining me this morning. Appreciate
that was the executive director of the Association of Salaried
Medical Specialists. For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge,
listen live to News Talks it'd be from five am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.