Three New Waikato Hospital Appointments

Waikato Hospital group manager Dr Grant Howard today announced three significant appointments at the 600-bed tertiary hospital in Hamilton.

Dr John Bonning, 43, becomes the new emergency department clinical director starting immediately replacing Dr Shameem Safih who is now southern rural hospitals’ emergency department clinical director.

Dr Bonning has been an emergency physician at Waikato Hospital since 2003.

Mark Spittal, 46, and Kevin Harris, 49, head up the non-acute and acute services at the hospital as assistant group managers.

Mr Spittal comes from a health sector management background including three years from 2001 as Waikato DHB Services Group general manager.

Mr Harris comes from a nursing background both in intensive care and in renal services. In recent years he held service and operations manager positions at both Waikato and Lakes DHBs.

Dr Howard said over the past year he considered changes in two stages to the management structure in Waikato Hospital.

The first saw the formation of clinical clusters which allowed for the alignment of nursing management with clinical units.

The second addressed the management support for those clinical units and the orientation of the organisation to patient-based services.

The primary focus of Mr Spittal’s portfolio will be to ensure people get timely access to the outpatient and elective inpatient services they need. Part of the key to that is bringing a focus to bear on the ‘whole of hospital’ processes that are often the points at which the system breaks down.

Mr Harris’ role is to manage the service streams for acute patients including the emergency department.

“We’re putting in structures that align with the patients’ experience and not necessarily with departments or individual services. They’ve been put in to manage what happens to patients in line with those patients’ needs rather than some organisational/management construct,” said Dr Howard.

“I’m really happy I’ve put in a management structure that supports the way the hospital does and should work.

“It’s been well accepted on an organisational level. It makes sense and people are keen to pick it up and run with it.”

Of Dr Bonning, Dr Howard said he was a passionate and dedicated emergency department physician.

“He has a high profile on regional and Australasian committees and we expect him to lead the way in terms of clinical practice in the emergency department,” said Dr Howard.

ENDS