President’s Message

I write this thinking how fabulous it has been for the SPANZA members, and the Executive and Secretariat, to be able to keep the momentum going through the pandemic. To be able to provide such great quality and well attended (online, FTF and hybrid) ASM’s and Updates over the last 3 years, is pretty amazing. And how wonderful to have been back face to face in Sydney for the 2022 ASM.

The SPANZA Subcommittees have contributed several finalised Guidelines and Documents, a Research Meeting and lots of ongoing work. Members have sat on various ANZCA committees and contributed to numerous papers and projects. None of this would be possible without the direction of the past President, Ruth Matters, nor without the experience of the many past Presidents on the executive.

I am now the President and I take very seriously the role of keeping that momentum rolling on. With my colleagues on the Executive, the Chairs of the Subcommittees, and with the guidance of the Secretariat I start this job with some excitement and a little nervousness as there is so much to do!

For those who do not know, the Exec, the Chairs and everyone who works with SPANZA do so on a voluntary basis. The Secretariat (Will Organise) are paid by SPANZA for their extensive services to keep us all on track and functioning. When compared to some of the bigger societies and colleges, we do achieve a lot with our volunteer hours. Our membership fee is minimal, and we have been increasing our contribution to research by increasing the amount we provide for research grants, and contributing time and money to global anaesthesia care. In the future we have plans to increase and improve our educational offerings.

I would like to remind the membership that we want to hear from you, which is why we’ve surveyed you on several occasions. The responses to those surveys help guide us, and often, reassure that we are on the right path. I would also like you to know that we really value and appreciate every contribution to the work SPANZA do. The various projects could not occur without the subcommittees and contributors from the membership. Thank you.

SPANZA’s mission is to improve the quality of anaesthesia, perioperative care and pain management received by all children. This should be regardless of age, gender, race, complexity or location. In Australia and New Zealand, our highly urbanised populations pose a challenge to providing healthcare over such a huge area, relative to many other parts of the world. This increases the importance of SPANZA, and we must continue to expand the network of anaesthetists caring for children all across Australia, New Zealand and our surrounding regions.

Anna Miedecke
President, SPANZA