Keep up with the latest developments affecting General Surgery in New Zealand. Get discounted pricing for our annual conference, receive a monthly newsletter, and finally support the running of the organisation that is solely looking after general surgery interests.
To have a strong advocate voice in the NZ surgical environment, NZAGS has to demonstrate strength and leadership. We can do that with General Surgeon support but it’s strength in numbers. NZAGS is more likely to be listened to, and be able to have our voice heard if we can show a united front with full membership of all General Surgeons.
We need to position ourselves as the organisation that advocates for all general surgeons in NZ regardless of sub-specialty.
The NZAGS advocates within the health industry. For General Surgeon voices to be taken seriously, we need strong membership. If, for instance, Southern Cross believes we do not represent all General Surgeons, they are less likely to take our presence seriously. There is strength in numbers (which NZOA prove with 100% membership). NZAGS’s goal is to grow stronger so that when we talk we are listened too.
With Insurance companies continuing to roll out contracts for all surgical operations it’s vital we have strength as an organisation.
In addition, if you visit the Executive Page, you’ll see a list of the committees and working groups NZAGS is expected to have a voice on. We need to be able to engage with ALL members to ensure we are representing all views.
Finally, the College is divesting more and more responsibility to NZAGS in the training field. With the separation of BiGS into NZBiGS and AUSBiGS NZAGS is responsible for developing and implementing the surgical training programme. We need as many members as possible to step up and take a turn at sharing their knowledge on the
Executive Committee – 16 members
Training Committee – 18 members
NZBiGS – 12 members
These positions need to rotate, and we need diversity across our members to help us position and advance general surgery in NZ.
I have heard many members state, ‘Oh, we have two of our team as members we can keep up with news that way.” A strong membership is not about just keeping you informed, it’s about NZAGS having a strong voice and getting your feedback. the other note is that I receive many emails form general surgeons asking us to send out a survey. How can we 1) send to all GS if not all are members, and 2) most of these requests come from non-members who don’t contribute financially to staff time or overheads but want to use the association.
NZAGS advocates in the following areas:
Workforce planning
Work life balance
Changing face of specialisation and training
Private health area
MoH programmes (bowl cancer screening etc.)
Training curriculum
Surgeons Wellness
CPD
Medical Council
Working with Sub-specialties, and PiSA, GSA, RSA etc.
We need you to take an active role within the membership. So please talk to your colleagues and let’s create a strong and robust General Surgery advocate association.
