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Tell us a bit about your background.
I'm an Australian-trained medical specialist, in Emergency Medicine. Early in my career, I had the opportunity to work overseas and also to be involved in management, policy development, medical regulation and health system consulting, while maintaining a continuous clinical role. This has given me a much broader understanding of the way work is done and how the management and regulatory environments influence the clinical service. While I had the opportunity to assist workplace culture in other hospitals, through my consulting work, it became increasingly difficult to influence my own workplace, as a hands-on clinician. Later in my career, I found the hospital workplace increasingly frustrating and made a move to Telemedicine, working for a small, innovative company.
I see my engagement with the principles and talent of Art of Work as a pathway to improving the complex set of factors that lead to frustration and burnout, both in Health Services and throughout the world of work.
After working as an emergency physician for 35 years, what prompted your move into telemedicine.
I realised that the frustrations of my public hospital position were limiting my creativity and job satisfaction and, when an alternative became available, I went for it. I traded in a risk-averse culture, with inefficient and redundant processes that did not match patient needs well, and which stressed employee compliance. I found an innovative, growing service where my skills are appreciated by both the business and the patients, and suggestions for development and improvement are welcomed.
Is there a common thread between high-performing organisations in health services and across industries?
Yes - there is definitely an increase in fear-driven self-protective processes that focus on the perceived risks of the provider more than the needs of the customer. We all know that there is a whole industry of compliance documentation which both conceals reality and gets in the way of the real work. We can stop being afraid and do our work to our best ability if trust is reinstated - both between management and workers and between providers and customers. Health care is not fundamentally different - it is a negotiation between a service provider and a client, where the provider uses their expertise to give the best possible advice to the client. Good communication and trust are fundamental to a successful encounter.
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