This unprecedented time has seen all eye care organisations step up to look after members. Ophthalmology New Zealand (ONZ) is no exception providing a range of resources to support members as the country moved through different alert levels, including:

• A resource package and links for assistance in employment, subsidies, tax and health advice and policies
• Covid-19 workplace policies for in-patient flow and infection control
• A dedicated, private Facebook group for ophthalmologists to exchange information and best practice resources

At the end of April, ONZ ran a special Covid-19 update meeting together with the New Zealand Branch of RANZCO, attended by 87 ophthalmologist members, non-members and RANZCO executive and staff, focused on surgical options moving from Level 4 to 3 and beyond. The meeting resulted in a coordinated agreement on surgery post Level 4, a greater understanding of district health board and private workflow requirements and how private resources could assist with the national response. Further resources from this meeting included the RANZCO Statement on Level Changes and the ONZ Guidelines on Elective Surgery post-Level 3, both available at www.ophthalmologynz.co.nz.

During lockdown, the ONZ board also attended a strategic planning session to clarify the organisation’s vision, mission and goals.

ONZ Business Forum

The annual ONZ Business Forum is now planned for later this year, though whether this is online and/or in person, is still to be confirmed. “We will be going out to our members, as part of annual feedback process, to ensure that we offer it at the best date but we are proposing August/September,” said the ONZ board.