Dr Michael Buist is a driven and passionate man; he’s also incredibly stubborn and refuses to be held back by anything…including two near death experiences as a result of medical mishaps.
In fact, when something goes wrong in Mike’s life it just fires him up more.
The North West Area Health Service (NWAHS) is now directly benefiting from this unbridled passion, with Mike Buist relocating to the coast nine months ago with his young family.
Mike says he came to Tasmania for “more brain space”. But as usual he’s thrown himself head first into every challenge he can get his hands on.
Not only is he Director of Medicine for the whole NWAHS, he also has his own clinical load, a teaching role with the University of Tasmania’s Rural Clinical School in Burnie, and his private research into service delivery and patient safety.
“One of my goals here is to transform the process of care for patients that have to encounter the hospital system. In particular the notion that people who might have well established chronic diseases have to keep reengaging with the emergency department and keep going through the same process over and over again,” Mike said.
Mike certainly loves a challenge. Prior to moving to Tasmania, he was the Intensive Care Director at Dandenong Hospital in Victoria where he developed and implemented the concept of medical emergency teams. This resulted in a reduction of cardiac arrests by 50% in three years. His model has now been adopted internationally.
He’s also a world leader in his research into preventing unnecessary deaths in hospital. His passion for this area came after he developed a lung tumour which went undiagnosed, despite x-rays, and almost cost him his life. If that wasn’t enough, he later underwent a routine operation for appendicitis which went horribly wrong and once again, almost killed him.
Mike came back fighting, but at the same time realised there was more to life than just a high adrenaline, high profile career.
“There comes a point in your life when you have to grow up and take on a bit of responsibility.”
Mike decided to put his family first and relocate to Tasmania where he could spend more time with his wife and three toddlers.
“I’m learning how to take more time to appreciate the simple things.”
“We’re renovating a house on the beach at Wynyard which is fantastic. We also spend a lot of time just wandering around local markets – you can do that here without having to fight big crowds and I love that.”
Despite the enviable lifestyle, Mike hasn’t lost his passion for work, and is still very committed to improving patient safety. The bonus is, his job seems to be more achievable here than in other states.
“Patient safety is very good in the North West. In smaller areas people deliver better health care because at the end of the day you live with those people in the community, so it’s an issue of accountability.
“But also the staff really do care, they don’t just turn up and do the job, and you really notice that difference between the larger metro hospitals.”
Mike says there are still a lot of improvements to be made including increasing cancer services and introducing an electronic health record, but he knows he’s in the right place to be making a real difference, especially working with a CEO like Jane Holden.
“It’s the first time I’ve worked with a CEO that is so focused around the individual patient. I’ve worked under a lot of tough women, but there’s always been a lack of focus on the core business of looking after the patient. Generally they say they care about the health and wellbeing of the population as lip service, but Jane actually means it.”
He’s also impressed by his patients. “I like the fact that they are all pragmatic and down to earth. People down here want to be treated as people, not fools and I respect that.”
With a challenging job, interesting patients and a spectacular view from his front door, Mike says he’s not planning to leave the North West any time soon. Just as well, because the North West probably wouldn’t let him go without a fight.