English primary health care expert appointed chief adviser at Ministry.

The new chief nursing adviser at the Ministry of Health is an English primary health care expert, Mark Jones. Announcing the appointment late Last month, Deputy Director-General, Clinical Services Directorate Colin Feek, said Jones' part in introducing the nurse practitioner (NP) role in the United Kingdom (UK), "weighed heavily" in his selection. Jones, the former primary care policy and practice adviser with the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), established the international network of NPs within the International Council of Nurses and co-authored the first NP education programme in the United Kingdom. After 13 years in the RCN position, Jones became director of the Community Practitioners' and Health Visitors' Association in July 2002. The association is a professional section of England's biggest trade union, Amicus, and it campaigns to protect the status of community practitioners and the services they deliver.

He has a "reasonabLe knowledge" of New Zealand nursing systems. "I understand the Treaty of Waitangi and believe it provides a firm basis on which we will continue to build a robust health care service to the benefit of all New Zealanders. Nursing will continue to encompass the needs of the whole population, whilst providing a service matched to the specific needs of particular groups, such as Maori and Pacific Island peoples. I will work to ensure the nursing workforce also reflects the diversity of the population."

Asked his particular strengths, Jones said he had a sound track record in leadership and working with policy makers to ensure health care systems met population needs. He had worked to help develop new roles and responsibilities in nursing, while retaining proven means of practice. "Ultimately I am a pragmatic change agent. I will work with anyone who wishes to see innovation in policy and practice to the benefit of individuals, groups and communities, within the realistic constraints of our soda-political system." Asked about being a male nursing leader in a profession that in New Zealand was 95 percent female, Jones said he had been appointed because of his skills and competencies, not because of his gender, sexuality or other discerning characteristic. "All my working life I have been proud to be a member of a profession that is predominantly female, but at the end of the day I would like to think I will be judged by my ability as a nurse, rather than whether I happen to be a man or a woman."

He disagreed his appointment could send a negative message to women who were nurses. "As with the status of nursing throughout the world, there is the potential for people to see the profession as having relatively lower status due to the erroneous connection with 'women's work'. Thankfully this situation is changing." He would work with New Zealand nurses to ensure the profession was respected, "irrespective of any gendered perception".

Jones replaces Frances Hughes who resigned from the position last November. Feek disputed the recruitment had taken a long time. The position was a key one and "the rigorous short-listing, interview and selection processes are in place to ensure that the position is filled with the most suitable candidate", he said.

The position was advertised twice, with the second round attracting' a "smaller but stronger number of applicants", Feek said. In all,15 applications were received.

Feek said Jones, who is studying for a doctorate in social science through the University of Bristol, was the best person for the position. "We were looking for a nursing leader but primarily for a public servant. He is a good policy person, a good nursing person, with an interest in primary health care. There are huge opportunities for nurses in primary health care. He believes the New Zealand NP model is ahead of the UK model and he is very keen to pursue those advantages and opportunities."

Feeks said ff Jones had not been appointed, there were New Zealanders who were "appointable". Those involved in the appointment were Nursing Council chair Annette Huntington; chief adviser clinical services, Gillian Grew; chief adviser general practice Jim Primrose; the manager of clinical services improvement Deborah Woodley, and Feek.

Jones, who came to New Zealand for a few weeks earlier this year and met some nurse leaders and government officials, takes up the position on October 3.