Syphilis outbreak shows decision to cut sexual health doctors clearly short-sighted

The struggle to contain Auckland’s syphilis outbreak is hardly surprising given the flawed decision by the city’s health bosses several years ago to cut the number of senior sexual health doctors in the region, says Sarah Dalton, Industrial Officer at the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS).

“Unfortunately it’s a case of chickens coming home to roost,” she says. “It’s just really sad that people’s lives are being devastated by a lack of health planning which would have helped minimise the impact of this outbreak.”

She was commenting on reports that Auckland District Health Board is warning people of the dangers of syphilis following an outbreak of the disease (https://www.asms.org.nz/news/asms-news/2016/12/05/flawed-proposal-cut-auckland-sexual-health-specialists/).

This follows earlier reports that the number of New Zealanders with syphilis has doubled in recent years (https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/355071/syphilis-on-rise-numbers-double-in-2-years) and that babies are dying from syphilis passed onto them during pregnancy (https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12086283).

Ms Dalton says ASMS warned of the consequences in December 2016 when an Auckland DHB proposal to reduce the number of sexual health specialists in the region first surfaced (https://www.asms.org.nz/news/asms-news/2016/12/05/flawed-proposal-cut-auckland-sexual-health-specialists/).

“At that time DHB bosses decided to ride roughshod over the advice of their clinical experts about what was needed to respond adequately to the region’s sexual health needs, and now they’re struggling,” says Ms Dalton.

“This is what happens when managers think they know more about health delivery than the people actually on the front line who are diagnosing and treating patients. While the DHB has made some effort since to increase the number of staff responding to the outbreak, none are senior doctors, who are needed to diagnose and treat syphilis.”