4 March 2021Some highlights: President's blog | Aotearoa/NZ Anaesthesia ASM 2021 | PANNZ Update Meeting cancelled | Auckland City Symposium | Climate Change Commission Report | Help fund Pacific anaesthesia training | PHARMAC advisory committees | PHARMAC medical devices | In the media - Perinatal and Maternity Mortality Report | webAIRS President's blogNZSA President Dr Sheila Hart NZSA President Dr Sheila Hart was inspired by the challenging themes and discussions at ANZCA NZNC's hui in Waitangi last week, including talks on mental ill health. In her blog she writes that we need to recognise that mental ill health is neither a moral weakness nor a lack of resilience. "We need to be open in our discussions, to be kind and supportive to those who are struggling, and to remind ourselves that it is okay not to be okay...We need to create departments, hospitals and a profession where it is safe to talk about these issues, without judgement." Read here Dr Hart welcomes your comments: president@anaesthesia.nz Aotearoa NZ Anaesthesia Annual Scientific Meeting 2021Organise your leave well ahead of time for the Aotearoa New Zealand Anaesthesia ASM (27-30 October, Christchurch), co-hosted by ANZCA NZNC, NZSA and NZATS. NZSA membership renewalsThank you to members who have renewed their NZSA membership. A friendly reminder to please renew you membership if you haven't done so. For any membership queries please email NZSA Membership Manager Lynne Mulder-Wood membership@anaesthesia.nz or call 04 494 0124. Our new website will automatically send you a receipt, however if your DHB requires a more formal receipt, please contact Lynne and she will send this to you. PANNZ Update Meeting - cancelledJointly hosted by PANNZ and SPANZA (Society for Paediatric Anaesthesia in New Zealand and Australia). Unfortunately, due to a change in lockdown levels the highly anticipated 2021 face-to-face Paediatric Anaesthetist Network of New Zealand (PANNZ) Update Meeting, which was to be held 5-6 March in Rotorua, has been cancelled. Speakers and delegates were emailed information about the cancellation, including refund options. Representatives of the Organising Committee, PANNZ and SPANZA are planning to instead deliver presentations across a number of weeks via a virtual platform. Presentations will be scheduled on an evening to deliver ‘live’ to anyone who can join, but will also be made available as a recording to those who would like to watch them in their own time. Dates are not confirmed yet for the online presentations, however details will be available in the next fortnight. In addition to the online delivery of the 2021 program, the plan is to hold the Update Meeting in Rotorua next year (dates for 2022 to be confirmed). NZSA Executive CommitteeThe NZSA Executive Committee will next meet by teleconference on 10 March, followed by a face-to-face meeting on 15 March, which will include a planning session to guide 2021 priorities and projects. We will provide an update to members on key issues and initiatives discussed. The Committee is made up of NZSA members who volunteer their time to represent members and the specialty, chaired by NZSA President Dr Sheila Hart. Find out about your representatives, including the Executive portfolios they hold here. Auckland City Symposium 2021Auckland City Symposium, 17 April 2021, School of Medicine, University of Auckland The ACS will provide an exciting update on anaesthesia and the brain. An international, multi-disciplinary panel, including experts Professor Kristin Engelhard and Associate Professor Lis Evered, will cover topics including traumatic brain injury, the Perioperative Brain Health Initiative, and paediatric neurotoxicity plus the latest scientific evidence on depth of anaesthesia, management of acute stroke and novel uses of anaesthetic agents. Due to COVID, international speakers will present by video-link and online registration is offered as an option. In the event of a lockdown a fully virtual meeting will be held. More details acs.ac.nz Climate Change Commission ReportThe changes New Zealand needs to make to meet international emissions obligations are outlined in the Climate Change Commission's Consultation report with recommendations focused on helping New Zealand to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The report is wide ranging and covers areas such as transport, power and waste. Help us support our Pacific colleagues - PACTIn our last E-Zine we updated you on progress of our new initiative to support Pacific colleagues. Since then we are very happy to report an increase in the numbers who have signed up to help fund a Pacific anaesthesia trainee through their Masters program at the Fiji National University. PACT (Pacific Anaesthesia Collaborative Training) is an initiative from NZSA's Global Health Committee to support a sustainable anaesthesia workforce in the Pacific. For the equivalent of one $5 coffee per week (or more if you wish) you can help fund the entire cost of the Masters program for a Pacific trainee's education. We need 77 people to sign up in total for sponsoring one trainee (not far off!) "For the cost of a cup of coffee this is another great way of supporting growth and development of anaesthesia in the Pacific" - Dr Petra Linden-Ross, PACT contributor and GHC member Click here to donate. To learn more about the work of our Global Health Committee visit their webpage. PHARMAC advisory committeesPHARMAC is proposing changes to improve and expand their advisory committees - which provide advice on medicines and consumer experiences (the Consumer Advisory Committee and the Pharmacology and Therapeutics Advisory Committee). Proposed changes aim to enable consumers to share their perspectives formally, through the committees; enhance the committees' diversity; and strengthen health equity knowledge within committees. Read the consultation here We are seeking member feedback to inform NZSA's submission to PHARMAC on the proposals. Please send comments to NZSA Communications Manager Daphne Atkinson comms@anaesthesia.nz by 10 March 2021. PHARMAC medical devicesAbridged update from PHARMAC newsletter In Device: PHARMAC funds empagliflozinANZCA has published the following advisory on its website: Surgery was postponed recently in a metropolitan hospital in New Zealand as it was discovered the patient was taking empagliflozin, a newly funded treatment for type 2 diabetes. PHARMAC made the decision to fund SGLT2 inhibitor empagliflozin (Jardiance) and empagliflozin with metformin (Jardiamet) from 1 February 2021 after a broad consultation. In the mediaPerinatal and Maternal Mortality Review Committee report - "urgent action required" webAIRSAs at 1 March 2021, the WebAIRS anaesthetic incident reporting system had collected over 8,700 incident reports. The most common reported categories are Cardiovascular (17%), Medication (16%) and Respiratory (30%) events. Anaphylaxis accounts for almost 7% of the first 8,000 reports submitted to webAIRS. An article titled ‘First impressions of the Anaphylaxis cases reported to webAIRS’ will be published in the April NZSA magazine. References: The Australian and New Zealand Anaesthetic Allergy Group (ANZAAG)/Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) Anaphylaxis Management Guidelines Guidelines-Anaphylaxis_2016.pdf (anzaag.com) The ANZAAG/ANZCA Differential Diagnosis card. Differential_Diagnosis_Card_2016.pdf (anzaag.com) The Anaphylaxis Box. www.anzaag.com/AnaphylaxisBox.aspx A selection of incidents is available to view on the Advisory Notices for Anaesthetists (ANA) - Alerts page of the webAIRS website. To view the ANA - Alerts, please login or register webAIRS website or contact anztadc@anzca.edu.au EventsFor more NZ events visit the NZSA events page PacMac dates 2021 - 19 April and 21 Sept (Wellington) Anaesthesia Continuing EducationThe ACE website is a one-stop shop for anaesthesia events. Members convening conferences, workshops or meetings, which assist CPD requirements, are encouraged to add their event to the website. Advertising and quick links |