BIOGRAPHY Denise is a dual trained General and Respiratory physician, she has worked at Rotorua Hospital since 1997, where she has been HOD and is now a Clinical Director of Quality & Innovation. She is relinquishing her respiratory medicine to allow time for other things, including palliative care and perioperative medicine. She has been involved in medical education as an Intern Supervisor for 10 years where she published with a colleague on the usefulness of support groups for junior doctors. She was a member of the RACP General Medical SAC from 1998-2005 when she took over the chair (2005-2008), then joined the Adult Medical Education Committee until 2014. She is a current member of the examinations committee. Denise’s research interest is Lung Cancer. She published local outcomes in 2008, then was a member of the Expert Advisory Group for the HRC funded Barriers to Access to Secondary Care in Lung Cancer. Denise ran a pilot project for Early Detection of Lung Cancer in 2010 “cough, cough, cough” and now chairs the National Working Group on Early Detection of Lung Cancer. A current interest is an active improvers group with junior doctors which has been productive and lots of fun. Improving safety at weekends has been one of their focuses. Denise is on her way to Christchurch to start a six month sabbatical doing a Clinical Diploma in Palliative medicine. ABSTRACT
The Surgical Referral - too little, too late! The surgical consult evolved to meet the needs of a time when few surgical patients had complex medical co-morbidity. This situation no longer exists. Rather than ruefully regretting that this is the case we should consider how to improve systems of care that address the safety of surgical patients with coexistent medical conditions. We should not be providing care when patients have deteriorated sufficiently to come to our attention, but rather preventing and pre-empting. General Physicians are ideally placed to lead this work.
What would this mean for us in 2017? |
