Peter Saul: Dying in 21st Century Australia
Peter Saul is Senior Intensivist in the adult and paediatric ICU at John Hunter Hospital, and Director of Intensive Care at Newcastle Private Hospital, NSW. Having been deeply involved in the dying process of over 4000 patients in the past 35 years, Peter has taken an interest in how we die, and how this has changed beyond all recognition in a single generation.
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ABOUT Peter Saul
“Peter has been a qualified Doctor for over 25 years. He trained as a physician in England, then as an anaesthetist. He did his ICU training in Australia at St Vincents, then at Harvard in the USA.
He has been in Newcastle for 14 years. Peter went to Newcastle to help start up the new ICU at John Hunter, and never left. He’s been accused of being an ‘ethicist’, which he tries to deny, but does admit to having been Head of Discipline for Medical Ethics at Newcastle University in the past. He now provides ethical advice to the State and Federal Health Departments.
Peter has volunteered with Outcomes Australia’s Sharelife Australia project. The group is focused on applying business principles to deliver sustainable outcomes to community issues which make a real difference in the quality of living for all Australians.
Their first Community Project and proof of concept for the Outcomes methodology in creating quantum community change was ShareLife Australia, an initiative that undertook to dramatically reduce the number of Australians dying unnecessarily from a lack of access to organ transplantation caused by significant inefficiencies in Australia’s existing processes.
From those humble beginnings, Outcomes Australia now fosters a diverse, cross-functional community of outcome-orientated pro-bono supporters who are interested in only one result, achieving dramatically better community outcomes for Australians. Their membership base comprises of individuals who wish to invest back into the community through the utilisation of their networks, skills and experience.
He owns a remnant area of bush in the Hunter Valley, with the intention of not chopping down any more trees and is a member of Doctors for Forests NSW, a broad network of doctors, health professionals and students from across the state. They are concerned about the impact of forestry practices on the health of their communities.”
The VIDEO
