About Us

After 12 years with Wellington Free it’s certainly a vocation and when you still feel needed you know it’s the right thing to do, says Andy.

There are many aspects to his diverse and essential role; giving clinical advice, management of clinical incidents and complaints, clinical representation on a significant number of committees, clinical governance, teaching and research.

The role is wide reaching and can be demanding due to its urgency. “The challenges are diverse, and I also need to maintain my credentials in emergency medicine at the same time. It can be a challenge to keep up with developments across the whole spectrum of acute illness and injury,” he says.

Being Medical Director is a huge responsibility, however Andy has managed emergency departments, often single handedly since 1986, so it’s not often he loses sleep.

In a career spanning decades, he qualified in London, teaching and researching to PhD level, then completed trauma and surgical training before deciding on emergency medicine.

Andy chose to specialise in emergency medicine as he always wanted to be able to offer an answer or potential solution to the patients he saw and a wide breadth of skills and abilities was needed to do this.

“Emergency medicine incorporates the skills to deal with the most worrying of conditions that require instant treatment,” says Andy.

After consulting in the United Kingdom for a number of years he moved to New Zealand, “I came to experience a different health system that better incorporated self-care,” says Andy.

Moving to New Zealand was one of the best decisions he ever made, feeling there is an expectation that people have the right to enjoy life.

“For my own wellbeing I like to swim in the ocean, it’s an opportunity to be away from everything and I can just think. I enjoy playing and listening to trombone music and building working models too.”

If he could give his younger self one piece of advice it would be “... just be yourself and do what you are comfortable doing, don’t follow somebody else’s stereotype,” says Andy.

The most rewarding aspect to his role is making sure patients and staff feel reassured.

As a mentor, he says it’s important to set an example for younger graduates. “Good feedback is a combination of applauding the good points and explaining areas for potential improvement.

He teaches students and graduates in the emergency department as well as in paramedicine but says many brief teaching episodes take place over the year.

“Feedback to me is really important as there’s no substitute for the smile of satisfaction on a student’s face. When I receive appreciation from former graduates it is very special.”

There have been many memorable moments over his career especially the introduction of important skills before they were accepted by the paramedic profession.