Meet our team

Derek born in Nelson and attended Nelson College before leaving to complete his Medical degree at Otago University. He did his Ophthalmology training in the UK passing his FRCS final exam in Edinburgh in 1987. He has previously been involved in providing eye surgery in Nepal and the Pacific Islands but over the last 10 years in addition to his busy clinical practice he has been preoccupied with improving Eye Health Services in New Zealand firstly in his role Chairing the Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Group and then Chairing the Save Sight Society and more recently Chairing the NZ Branch of the Royal Australian and NZ College of Ophthalmologists.

From 2014 – 2018 Derek was Chair of the Council of Medical Colleges, an organisation that represents 15 Specialist Colleges and 9,500 doctors.

Emergency Medicine Physician, MBChB (Auckland) FACEM

John Bonning has been a Specialist Emergency Physician for over 14 years and has been Director of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Waikato Hospital since 2010. He is Chair of the NZ Faculty and President Elect of ACEM.

Having worked in different emergency departments throughout New Zealand and Australia as well as the UK, he has a first-hand knowledge of different models of care in a variety of settings from the smallest rural to the largest tertiary hospital. John has various other roles as an APLS and ACME Instructor and a Police Medical Officer and an expert advisor to the Police, Coroner and Courts on a variety of forensic and medical matters.

In 2018 John was elected chair of the Council of Medical Colleges of New Zealand, an organisation that represents 15 specialist Colleges.

John is president-elect of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine.

Graeme has worked in a wide range of areas including primary care, DHB Planning and funding, the Antenatal Screening Programme at the Ministry of Health, and research and teaching at the University of Auckland.

He has been a public health physician for 10 years and has a strong interest in environmental health; particularly climate change, transport, air pollution, cycling and health, and health sector sustainability. He is currently an honorary academic at the University of Auckland after being involved there for several years with research, and organising and teaching environmental health papers.

Graeme has been an executive board member for OraTaiao; The NZ Climate and Health Council from its foundation in 2009 until 2015. He has previously been a board member on the Counties Manukau District Health Board Environmental Advisory Group and has worked on World Health Organization Pacific climate change and health projects.

Graeme has a strong interest in equity and justice issues from the cultural and societal through to the planetary level.

Leanne has worked in the health sector for several years, most recently at the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. She currently works for the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and the Council of Medical Colleges.