Candidate Profile Statement
Southern District Health Board

Malcolm Macpherson

I supported the merger of Otago and Southland into a single Southern board - one benefit of which is demonstrated by the exceptional combined campaign to keep neurosurgery at Dunedin Hospital. Getting the best out of the new board will require experience, knowledge, and commitment. I've been an elected member of the Otago DHB for three terms. My experience includes more than a decade working on community health issues as a trust member, district councillor, and then mayor in Central Otago, and a period as communications manager for HealthCare Otago. I am married to a GP. It's been a privilege to be a member of a board which through the hardest of times has been one of New Zealand's most successful. I'd love to continue that work as the benefits of the new Southern DHB are realised, and we begin to think about new initiatives and investing in the future.
150 words

Conflict of interest statement, SDHB
I am married to a GP who will be a member of the new Southern PHO, is an ACC Branch Medical Advisor, and who sometimes works at Dunstan Hospital. All three of those agencies have contractual arrangements with the Southern DHB. I am a member of the Council of Otago Polytechnic (which trains nurses, other health professionals, and students with vocational interests who may be future employees of the DHB). If re-elected I will be Mayor of Central Otago District (which may involve advocating for health services) and a member of Otago Forward, (Otago's Regional Economic Development Agency, which may advocate for regional health and welfare services). I am a principal of Brilliant New Zealand Ltd, a consultancy which offers commercial services to health care organisations.

I do not believe that any other conflicts of interest are likely to arise in the future.

James Malcolm Macpherson
Monday, August 16, 2010