Kiwi Experience

2007-07-17T15:07:00.000-07:00

Mid July - Brrr

It has ( again ) been sometime since being on the website , and I thought it would be good just to touch base . I have to say I marvel at the people who have the dedication to be ableto do this everyday - maybe they do it full time ?

So , it's mid-winter here in Invercargill , and this was brought home recently when there was a crisis at the A+E locally when there had been a short period of rain followed by a freeze overnight . I'm still seeing people in the surgery with their continued bumps , bruises , sprains and breaks . Funnily enough , although it's cold overnight and first thing in the morning , clear blue skies soon lead to the sun warming up the ground and allowing the outside to be enjoyed - at the weekend we had taken the kids to Queen's Park - a spell of running around soon warmed everyone up .

We have made a decision to move back to the UK when my job / visa here finishes , and I have started looking at jobs in the Tayside area , where we currently have a house in Dundee .

Not too much else to say - almost a new footy season - come on the Sellick ! Oh ... I must be having some kind of mid-life crisis as I have had my hair dyed ( bleached ? ) platinum blonde . Admittedly there wasn't much there to start with ... Some patients have noticed and said something , others haven't , or not said anything . Got another appointment for this next week !

2007-05-22T02:47:00.000-07:00

A Long Time Away

Apologies to anyone reading this ( I believe there may be one or two - literally ) , as I have been completely remiss in updating this site . A lot has been happening ( as always in our life ) - but ultimately that is no excuse , I know .

Anyway , what has been happening ?

Work continues apace at the practice . Now settling into a routine , although I will soon increase to nine sessions - Wednesday afternoons to be included .

Sadly , I recently learnt that a good friend of mine , Dave Hughes , had committed suicide . There seems to be a lot more to this story than originally appears in the press , as you can imagine , but we had known each other since first year of Medical school , and I was sad at not being able to make the funeral . I really feel for Jo , his wife , and their three kids , and I hope we will be able to meet up once we get back to the UK . I also know that this is the only piccie I have of him out here with me - a good night in Edinburgh , nonetheless .

This put a little dampener on our weekend away for our 7th wedding anniversary , although both I and Liz really enjoyed the Millbrook facilities .

We have recently been up to Christchurch to stay with Liz' sister , Kathryn . She is soon to leave her job with PGG Wrightson , and will be moving in with her partner at a vineyard - the Mountford estate - no , that's not them in the photo . Here's hoping we don't just get wine for pressies from now on ( as nice as the Pinot noir is ! ; )

The nights are getting longer , now we are moving into the tail end of May , and whilst it has been a bit on the nippy side at times , it's not really too cold . The only recent issue was three weeks without a proper heat pump - the guy who was supposed to do it had obviously had some kind of accident , and this had led to him being behind in his work ; but rather than 'fessing up and admitting there would be a delay or getting someone else to do the work , we got one crock of B.S. after another - either that , or the man sure had a lot of sick elderly relatives requiring his assistance recently , and he also managed to get an arthroscopy for free in A+E ....

Ah , bugger it , I wasn't going to make any negative comments after being accused of being a whingeing pom by an English ex-pat after my last entry ... You can take the Brit out of Britain I guess.....

2007-02-20T14:05:00.000-08:00

More Nuances Of GP Life In New Zealand

A further three weeks down the line and what have I learnt ? Well I'm really enjoying the GP life down here . I'm getting to know the guys in the practice and they're a very affable bunch . Income here is dependent on the number of people you see in a day , so there is a definite financial reward dependent on how hard you work , something that is not always immediately obvious in the UK .

But , I am also learning that there are some drawbacks to the GP's life over here . My main bugbear has been with regards to prescribing . In the UK , you can write a prescription for practically any medication , in the knowledge that it will cost the person that's come to see you a flat fee of £6.85 ( about NZ$ 20 ) , no matter how much the drug costs wholesale . Therefore , although there are some medications which are considerably cheaper than this price , they make up for any shortfall from medications costing more ( of which there are an increasing number - usually the newer medications ) .

Now in New Zealand , the company that buys in the drugs ( Pharmac ) is also the company that sets up negotiations with the Pharmaceutical companies to decide on how much subsidy there should be . The decision on subsidising some medications but not others can lead to a discrepancy in the price of medications within the same drug class . I have made a couple of errors by prescribing medications in good faith for people ( where there has been an evidence base in the UK to use these drugs ) but they have phoned up from the Pharmacy to complain that the cost is not the usual NZ$ 16 ( the cost of all subsidised meds ) , but vastly more expensive ( NZ$ 200 in one case ) . This has been frustrating , as before any prescription I write , I am having to check whether I can prescribe it if it is subsidised . This MUST have an influence on prescribing practice , although I don't necessarily know if it is a good one . I guess the bean counters are happy enough ...

2007-01-27T23:09:00.000-08:00

Working In GP Land In New Zealand

So 3rd January and I walk into the medical centre to start work . There is a different pace to surgeries here - appointments are 15 minutes rather than 10 , there is no obligation to tick boxes in order to fulfill the contract , the punters have much the same complaints , medically , and there are less "non-medical" appointments with the doctor . Part of the reason for this is that , unlike the UK where a consultation is free at the point of service , you have to pay at the time of consultation . You don't hand your money over to the GP , but afterwards in the reception . Also in the surgery I work at , there is a time grading system whereby if you take more than 20 minutes for an appointment ( such as saving up a long list of complaints ) you will be charged more , conversely , if you are less than ten minutes ( for instance a medication or BP review ) then you will be charged less than a standard fee .

House visits are not made with the same regularity as they are in the UK - I suspect this is because an HV costs more than double an appointment in the surgery . After a number of visits to peoples houses where the only reason they hadn't come down to see me was because of the rain ( if any excuse was offered ) , I found this change in viewpoint quite refreshing . The lack of home visits has also led to an opportunity for me to walk through Queen's Park to and from work - making sure I wear a hat to protect the male pattern baldness from the ozone free UV we get down here .

2007-01-27T22:57:00.000-08:00

Christmas In Wanaka

This was a new one on me - the barbecue Christmas . The place we stayed in was great - plenty of space , and Wanaka was a great place . Plenty of young folk descended on the place during the gap between Christmas and Hogmanay , likely all looking to hook up with one another ( if reports from some of the people I know who have stayed in Wanaka at that period are anything to go by ) .

It was also nice to see both my sister Fiona and her husband Phil and son Robbie , as well as Liz' brother Quentin , his wife Fiona and their son Jackson . So Xmas was full on due to all the kids runing around daft .

New Year , on the other hand , was very quiet , with a night in with a nice glass of Central Otago Pinot Noir . A little different from previous booze sodden nights , but nice nonetheless .

2006-12-22T11:52:00.000-08:00

Life In Invercargill

We set off from Dunedin on 11th December and arrived approximately three hours later in Invercargill ( I don't know if I'd go as far as Lesley and Joan Beresford from Hampshire , though - see at top of the website . ) . Picked up our keys from Harcourts , the rental agency , and headed off to our new home for the next year and a half . It has to be said , Liz did a great job trawling the internet sites daily for about six months in order to find a place for us .

The people we're renting off have been very good , leaving a whole load of furnishings , linen and crockery for us . The only downside is a lack of central heating - it's still a tad chilly in the mornings . I am quietly dreading how cold it will get in Winter , although we do have heat pumps and fans installed in the place .

Invercargill itself is a small market town that serves a sparsely spread population . Something like 15% of New Zealand's GDP is generated here , by only 4% of it's population . Farming is the mainstay of local business , as well as fishing and some mining . There appears to be a lot of interest in the possibility of oil in the area , although nothing has been found yet . In preparation for this , a lot of realtors have been buyig up sites for people to buy . There do not appear to be any companies in the Bett's or Stewart Milne sort of league , and a lot of houses have very individual designs .

With the exchange rate being over 3$ to the pound at the moment , moving in hasn't been too taxing on the pocket , although things will change once I'm earning NZ dollars , I'm sure .

I've met the folk I'll be working with at he practice a few times , and they're a nice crowd . The two full time partners are Kevin , who I met in Edinburgh , and Steve Voss ( he has his own website ) . There is also Sandra Rind , who works 4 sessions , and a locum who has been filling in for me , Amy Mullen .

Arrangements have been made beforehand for a break to Wanaka for Christmas and New Year , and we head off today . So ... it's been quite a full on year , and I'll write in 2007 when hopefully I can take a step back and relax a bit ...!

2006-12-12T20:36:00.000-08:00

The Big Excursion Part III

The 10 hour direct flight from Singapore to Christchurch was fairly straightforward ( again with Singapore Airlines ) , other than it being a busy flight , and there being no four seater scetions in the plane . Thus I sat in between the two girls , trying to get comfortable and hoping that they could get some decent sleep . I think poor old Madeleine , who is quite tall for her age , didn't get any quality sleep overnight .

We arrived in Christchurch to stay with Dave and Jo Hughes - Dave is a friend from my Med school days . It was great to catch up , they're almost at the end of a year long stint in CCH , and have had a fun time .

Whilst in Christchurch , we had booked ahead and organised to set up a bank account with Westpac - the migrant manager ( a chap called Richie ) is a native Englander , but married a Kiwi and moved here 3 years ago . He was fully in the know about the various things that need to be done , including getting IRD numbers - you need these in order to pay taxes ( and get wages legally ) .

We needed a car quickly , and with the large number of independent traders there , we went for the largest trader , believing they would most likely have the best prices . Therefore we went for Paul Kelly motors . And got ourselves a Honda Odyssey circa 1999 . It's an automatic ( as are the majority of cars in New Zealand ) and had been recently shipped in from Japan ( where I think a large number of the used cars come from ) . They tend to be in good nick , having not done too many miles ( the Japanese don't seem to do too much driving ) . The strong pound to the dollar exchange rate was also a bonus when it came to buying . The boot size was excellent for when we go driving about the place , but it does have the extra seats if required .

After a day and a half , I realised that a cough I had inherited from patoents in the UK was getting worse - I presume a combination of multiple viral doses plus two recycled air trips in planes plus a whole load of air conditioners in Singapore . So I got myself some antibiotics , and picked up over the next few days .

After Christchurch , we drove down the East coast to Dunedin for the weekend . We stayed with Jane and Stephen Craig-Pearson , friends of ours ( through Liz ) that had spent a number of years in Hertford , having returned to New Zealand in 2002 . We also met up with Ail and Bob , other friends who had met in the UK ( Ail went to school with Liz - Bob is from England ) .

2006-12-12T17:51:00.000-08:00

Singapore Sling

So , part II of our trip ( from 23rd November until 4th December ) , and we all had a great time . The weather was hot and humid , but mainly dry . The girls loved the Christmas lights ( this was a new experience for me - Christmas and it's warm ) . Madeleine managed to find a Christmas tree covered in teddy bears - this seemed to be a big thing in Singapore . Mum and Dad are renting a property at the harbour front called Caribbean at Keppel Bay - the whole set up is great with pools , play area and tennis courts . Ten minutes away on foot is a new shiny shopping centre called Vivo City , complete with a nice cinema - myself and Madeleine went to see Happy Feet at the Gold Class screen - very nice it was too , with comfy chairs and waitress service .

We managed to pack a lot into our time there - we went to Sentosa and saw both Underwater World and Butterfly Kingdom . Unfortunately the heaven's opened just as we got to the butterfly open area - and everyone ( including the butterflies ) ran for cover .

Next on the itinerary was Jurong Bird Park - I think I enjoyed this more than the kids ! There was a huge open aviary filled with a bird called a Lory - the Lory loft . They appear to be a form of parakeet . They fly past at great speeds , and appear to be fearless . I tried to coax one onto sitting on my finger , but got a nip from it for my troubles !

Within a twenty four hour period we went to Night Safari and then Singapore Zoo . The kids loved the Safari , although Madeleine has a soft spot for the flamingoes . The only problem is that the Night Safari doesn't start until 7:30 pm - so when you have a 2 and 4 year old ( as we do ) can be a little tricky .

Apart from all the running around the tourist attractions , we managed two Sunday champagne brunches at the Conrad and Hyatt hotels . Both were delicious !

One little tip was that my Mum had managed to buy me some Melatonin from the local chemist ( it's not available in the UK except when prescribed by specialists for kids with ADHD ) . This allowed me to adjust very quickly to local Singapore time ( having previously been a notorious jet lagger ) .

We left on the last leg of our flight on 4th December , taking an Airbus directly from Singapore to Christchurch .

2006-12-12T03:43:00.000-08:00

A Busy Old Month !! Part I .

Well there's been a lot of mileage since I last posted on here !

We spent the last week in Dundee getting stuff into storage - I'm glad we went for the bigger space as , even with the large trimdown we did , there was still a lot of stuff left over . And that's not mentioning the fact we left a lot of stuff in the house for the incoming tenant .

We left our house on Tuesday 21st November , and spent the night in the Premier Travel Inn . I got to see Celtic beat Manchester United and qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League , and that left me pretty upbeat for the whole trip !!

In the end , we kept two rental cars for the trip down to Edinburgh airport - they were needed - we had 5 suitcases , a travel cot , a doctors bag , a laptop , a buggy and three pieces of hand luggage .

The first part of our journey involved flying with British Airways from Edinburgh to London Heathrow . The rules were pretty tight on hand luggage and liquids on board , as you can see here . To my horror , when we checked in , I was told that because BA is not part of the Star Alliance ( Singapore Airlines is - we would be flying with them out of LHR ) they could not check our luggage ( seven items for the hold , including five suitcases of 20+ kg each ) all the way through to Singapore . If we'd travelled with British Midlands this would not have been an issue . Thanks for nothing , Trailfinders .

Anyway , we get off our flight at LHR , and I ask an employee how to get to Terminal 3 ( we landed at Terminal 1 ) . He tells me there is an underground walkway ( approximately 3/4 mile long ) that you can walk along , or you can try to get one of the interconnecting buses . I went to the local help desk and asked if there was a portering service to help me with two baggage laden trollies - Liz was pushing the buggy and had two increasingly bored kids on her hands . I waited for 30 minutes and no help showed itself , so I huffed and puffed pushing and pulling two trollies the distance underground and eventually arrived at Terminal 3 . On the way I had passed a group of disinterested portering looking people in their late teens , and suspected this was an ideal place for them to loiter rather than work .

Thankfully , the Singapore Airlines flight was a dream - it was only half full , and so the cabin crew kindly moved us from a group of four seats to two rows of three next to each other . This meant each adult could sit at the end of the row and have one child each spread over two seats . I never sleep well on flights anyway - there's never enough room for me , but Liz caught a wee bit of shut eye . Not only that , but we didn't get charged anything extra despite having half a hundredweight's worth of luggage ! I got to see Pirate's Of The Carribbean II - a piece of nonsense if ever there was one . I also really got into a new game I had bought for the journey - Lego Star Wars II : The Original Trilogy for my PSP .

So we arrived in Singapore on Thursday 23rd November at about lunchtime , where my Mum was waiting for us .

2006-11-13T16:58:00.000-08:00

T-9 Days To Go

Well pretty much everything has gone to plan - thanks mainly to the organisational skills of Liz , I have to say . Both cars have been sold , there is a tenant for the house , we have a place to rent in Invercargill , and I have my visa and MCONZ interview .

Today I was 'Man with a van' , carting a lot of stuff to storage . Never driven a van before - you need to use your wing mirrors (!)

Other than that , had final band practice this evening - a good session . I hope to be able to get a band together in Invercargill - there may be some folk there with as crap a taste in music as me . We have a gig this weekend in Harrogate , and then it's only a couple of days until we leave !

2006-10-31T01:40:00.000-08:00

Times Moving On

Well a little over three weeks and things have definitely progressed since I last posted . I got acceptance through from the MCONZ that I would be allowed to practice in NZ , pending a final interview when I arrive . I haven't heard back from the two officials mentioned yet - I'll need to get onto their case !

The shipping guy was very good , we got given two alternatives - either bulk storage with other folk all in the one container , which would have been cheaper , but would have meant not receiving it for longer , or paying more for an individual crate . We opted for the latter , it left here at the beginning of October , and will be in New Zealand around about the same time we arrive .

We opted for Kangaroo storage , a firm with national outlets , having had a previous bad experience with a local company . They are professional , and we will start moving stuff there in the near future .

We advertised both cars in the local paper , and had offers for both within 24 hours . I held out for a bit more for the Volvo , and have been satisfied with what we'll be getting . The chap buying it doesn't want it for a couple of weeks , which is also a relief , in terms of having to hire a car . A friend has kindly let us loan her car for when she is at work at Ninewells , just up the road , which is also very nice of her .

Because we are going to NZ for longer than a year , I have needed to go for a full medical , including a chest Xray and blood tests . I am relieved to say my syphilis screening test is negative !!!

There was a bit of a footter with the Visa application , as the NZ high commission insist on sending everything back by post rather than emailing or phoning about specific queries . All in all it makes for a lot of frustration , and extra postage . Fair play to them , though , as although they said there was a 4-6 week turnaround time , once my application was accepted , and in view of the fact I had included a letter specifying which day I was leaving the UK , they sorted everything out within a week .

We also had a viewing via our rental agency ( Carol Whyte - they don't have a website ) , and a Professor who will be working up in the hospital is going to rent the property from pretty much as soon as we move out .

So , everything is pretty much as we hoped it would be . Locumming is carrying on , but after a busy October , I'm taking a wee bit more of a back seat this month . Tell you what , I'm looking forward to a long holiday !

2006-08-31T04:11:00.000-07:00

The Clan

Disgracefully , I haven't yet posted on other members of my family ! On the right here we have my Mum and Dad with my girls . They've both recently returned to Singapore where my Dad is working on an underground project out there . Both like golfing .

On the left is my sister Fiona - she's 22 months younger than me ( pictured with her husband Phil at Xmas ) and currently lives in Sydney . She has a son ( Robert ) who was born on 5/5/05 , which kinda makes it easy to remember his birthday . Could have been worse - could have been 6/6/06 !!

I also have another sister - Moira - I'll try and get an up to date photo of her as and when . She's 8 1/2 years younger and lives and works in the Reading area .

2006-08-29T23:42:00.000-07:00

Further News

Since my last post I have passed my MRCGP exam ( woohoo ) , and finished my GP registrar year . I have had a firm offer for a job in a practice in Invercargill ( pictured right ) - I even met one of the partners ( Kevin Tyree ) when he came over to the UK with one of his daughters for an underwater hockey tournament - no , I'd never heard of underwater hockey either !

All my MCONZ paperwork has been sent , and we've also organised storage for whilst we're away - the guys seem very professional there . We had the shipping guy in yesterday , and , again , we are reassured by their professionalism .

Life as a locum is different - I seem to be spending more time at home , which is nice in terms of seeing the kids , but I'm working more weekends , which kind of eats into the social life side of things .

That's all for now .

2006-07-16T14:38:00.000-07:00

Well , not been the most dilligent of bloggers as I haven't been online here for a couple of months . Needless to say there has been much happening in our world . I had the oral viva exam for my MRCGP exam , and wait until next week for the results . We've also been away for two weeks to stay with my Mum and other friends , and also to see one of my oldest friends , Adrian , get married - it was a great day . I'll maybe add a picture later .

I had a chat with Ian Mcara , who is part of the recruitment process for the Primary Care Organistaion ( or it's equivalent ) in Invercargill , and he seems to think work will be no trouble to find . He says that the average age for GP's in Invercargill is 54 , with quite a few staying on past retirement age due to recruitment shortages .

Got my new passport - it has some sort of snazzy electronic gizmo in it - probably monitoring me as I type this - better watch what I say...

Back to work tomorrow - only two more weeks as a GP registrar , then it's out in the big world as a locum GP . I posted my CV out a couple of weeks ago , and have had a favourable response so far .

Cheers for now .

Andy

2006-05-22T15:05:00.000-07:00

One Week On

Not much to say this week - sorting out some of the finance side of things . A lot depends on hearing back from my contact in NZ to get a written contract in the hand and get all the applications in ( eg work visa , etc )

The girls now both have chickenpox - c'estla vie ! Better now than on a plane to NZ !!

Cheers

2006-05-16T14:59:00.001-07:00

Progress Report

Well , here we are almost a week later , what have I learnt ?

1) The SPPA ( pensions people ) can't allow me to continue paying into my pension whilst I'm away as I am not going as part of an eg. training scheme . Instead , I'll be able to 'buy back' my additional time when I come back .

2) The MPS have a sister company in NZ that will cover me from a medical indemnity point of view . It's also cheaper than the UK MPS ( exchange rates and all that wouldn't be very competitive otherwise )

3) Some investment policies that you take out long term are't worth as much as you hoped they would be .

4) When your children develop chickenpox ( as mine are at the moment ) it's a gradual thing , and the first few spots are a ' is it or isn't it' waiting game . There also appears to be a quiet before the storm ... This can also mean impinging on social events that you may have planned months in advance ...not that I'm bitter !!

As a glutton for punishment , I've also decided to go for the DRCOG exam before I leave the UK - I think it adds to my employability , and is a reflction of the fact I spent a year in that field .

Anyway , yet again , the words start to dry up , and so sayonara .

2006-05-10T15:16:00.000-07:00

Getting Started

In an attempt to keep an online diary of what we do in our run up to , and our time in New Zealand , I have set up this blog . It might work , it might not .

Anyway , I met my wife nine and a half years ago in Hereford , her name is Liz and she is from New Zealand . We even got married in NZ in 2000 - just outside a place called Arrowtown - we had the reception here . We have two kids , Madeleine and Grace :

We always looked to be spending a time in New Zealand as both of us had never worked there , but the opportunity had never presented itself until now .

The kids are pre-school and I'm coming to the end of my year as a GP Registrar in Tayside . It seems to be the right time ( and , to be honest , the only time ) to grasp the nettle and go for it .

Over the next weeks , I'll post the ins and outs of what we had to arrange in order to make life as easy as possible , and even where we made hiccups along the way .

At the moment , I've downloaded the New Zealand Guide to General Practice which is really helpful . We've also looked into which visa I should apply under . I've been in contact with both locum agencies and a local GP , and have opted for the latter in order to find work . In some ways it could be more risky as there is no guarantee of continuous employment , but at least I can choose to stay in my chosen area for work rather than feeling obliged to move around the country for employment .

Anyway , I'll sign off for now .

Cheers