Orthopaedics head sought

Press, 21 June 1980, Page 7

Orthopaedics head sought

Health reporter The Christchurch Clinical School has sought approval from the University of Otago to advertise nationally and overseas for a professor of orthopaedic surgery who would also be head of orthopaedic services for the North Canterbury’ Hospital Board. Conditions of appointment have been clarified, and if the Government gives financial approval the post is likely to be filled by the end of the year. Two orthopaedic surgeons who were based at the Christchurch Hospital, Messrs A. Panting and R. Coates, resigned and left the department this month. Their departure reduces the teaching available to medical students in orthopaedics. No replacements have yet been made for their teaching duties. . Messrs Panting and Coates

said in April that they were

dissatisfied with the standard of orthopaedic work at the hospital. When a professor is appointed. to the chair of orthopaedic surgery he will devote half of his time to clinical work at the orthopaedic department. Replacements for .Messrs Panting and Coates would also devote half their time to clinical work. The effect of this will he to give the hospital one-and-a-half hospital-based orthopaedic surgeons, thus severely reducing the amount of orthopaedic work available to private orthopaedic serto private orthopaedic services. Visiting consultants who spend part of their time doing orthopaedic work for the hospital would have cuts in patient numbers when the three new positions were filled.