CE UPDATE News and views about our health from
AUGUST 2019 Waikato DHB Chief Executive Dr Kevin Snee
Over the past week or so I have been out and about meeting lots of people, seeing all the good work you are doing. I know this is a very busy time for us and that Waikato Hospital is seeing large volumes of very unwell people. Managing these volumes puts pressure on us and I want to thank everyone involved in caring for the large numbers of patients and ensuring they have the appropriate care. I am really looking forward to getting to know the organisation better and understanding our challenges. To do that I thought I would introduce myself and tell you a bit about my background. I come from an urban industrial town called Widnes in the northwest of England. My ancestors were originally Irish Catholic economic migrants who arrived in England at the turn of the 20th century in search of a better life. My father was a forklift driver and my mother worked in the canteen at the local primary school. When I was growing up I lived in a little terraced house in the town centre we were pretty impoverished as were most people locally. If I reflect on the poor stats we see for Māori in relation to life expectancy, it was similar for us – both my grandfathers died in their 50s and my father died when he was 62.
arm with the PHO integrated within it and with responsibility for Community Services provision. This involved bringing together a number of organisations that were in a bit of disarray and with a deficit. We dealt with that, and in fact we ended up with a reputation for developing a lot of progressive community services and developing community based secondary care services e.g. rheumatology, orthopaedics, diabetes, paediatrics, older peoples.
My next CE role in 2006 was in a bigger and much more complex Primary Care Trust covering the whole of Devon, with a budget of more than $2.5 billion and a staff of over I was lucky enough to have a mother who wanted her 4000. There were seven primary care trusts to bring together, children to get an education and I passed the entrance exam a deficit to fix and multiple government agencies to deal to get into a grammar school in Liverpool. In Liverpool as with and hospital trusts to commission services from. The a Manchester United fan I suffered many years of pain at downside was I was spending all my time at work and a time when Liverpool FC won everything and United were missing time with my family who were very young at the relegated! From there I went to Liverpool Medical School. time (children aged 2, 4 and 6). So, when an opportunity came up as chief executive of Hawkes Bay DHB in October After I qualified I initially trained 2009, we moved to New Zealand in general practice and did an "My approach will be to set a for a better lifestyle and a range extended GP programme – which of the challenges I enjoy. It was clear direction and to support and involved doing more obstetrics and enable you to get the job done." another organisation which had a gynaecology as well as paediatrics, number of problems – the Board had with the intention of doing voluntary been sacked and the government work overseas. However, NHS reforms at the time gave had brought in commissioners. I spent almost 10 years in greater prominence to community medicine (later called Hawke’s Bay and enjoyed my time there. public health) which had increasingly become my passion. So I spent a very happy 14 years as a public health I was attracted to Waikato because we have some difficult physician, first as a registrar/lecturer, then after my consultant challenges to deal with both in terms of our organisation and roles I became a Director of Public Health in Bury and in terms of the needs of our community. One way or another, Rochdale Health Authority in 1995, an area with profound these are the kind of challenges that I have been dealing inequalities and problems with local services. I initially had with for the majority of my professional life, so I am looking a team that had major problems that I was able to improve forward to working with you all to address them. significantly. While in this role I completed my MBA, took on My approach will be to set a clear direction and to support a series of additional general management roles and more and enable you to get the job done. I am very prepared to importantly met my wife Annie. take difficult decisions which may not always make me very In 2002 I took up my first role as chief executive of Bolton popular, but I will always be clear why the decisions have Primary Care Trust which was essentially like a DHB funder been taken. Continued on page 2
Healthy people. Excellent care