Improving the provision of cataract surgery in New Zealand demands disruptive change.

Cataract surgery is a highly cost-effective treatment, but the surgical intervention rate in New Zealand ranks poorly compared with other high-income countries. The combination of a growing and ageing population, lost operating time due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and geographical disparities, is driving up an unmet demand for cataract surgery. We present several evidence-based strategies with overlapping benefits in access, equity, efficiency and sustainability. Key strategies include that Health New Zealand mandate a national prioritisation threshold for surgical access, and that PHARMAC leverage cheaper access to surgical supplies using nationally agreed equipment standards, establishing high-throughput cataract units, offering same day bilateral cataract surgery when appropriate, and rationalising post-operative care.

A qualitative analysis of junior doctors' journeys to preparedness in acute care.

BACKGROUND: New doctors are expected to assess and manage acutely deteriorating patients from their first days in the hospital. However, current evidence suggests that medical graduates are not prepared for this. We aimed to explore junior doctors' first experiences with unwell patients and how they developed preparedness over time. METHODS: We conducted seven semi-structured interviews with doctors in their first postgraduate year. The interview transcripts underwent inductive thematic analysis using consensual qualitative research approaches. Themes identified were categorised into early experiences of unpreparedness, first experiences of genuine preparedness, and making sense of how they became prepared. Reflection on how participants progressed between the two was facilitated through a sorting and ranking exercise. RESULTS: Most participants initially felt unprepared when responding to acutely unwell patients. They described feeling overwhelmed, apprehensive and challenged. Two main challenges involved knowing when to escalate, and feeling expected to perform beyond their level of competency. A lack of acute care exposure at medical school was a common thread. All participants felt prepared to respond to unwell patients three to six months after starting work. Hands-on experience, reflection, simulation and multidisciplinary team-working were consistently ranked as the most useful learning experiences. CONCLUSION: Starting work as a doctor is a challenging time and preparedness to manage an acutely deteriorating patient is a common area of concern. As preparedness in acute care ranks poorly compared to other outcomes, we see this as an important area for improvement. Our findings suggest that undergraduates may lack sufficient opportunities for scaffolded decision making in acute care, and that increasing the intensity of clinical shadowing may improve preparedness and should inform future educational interventions.