The Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS)

GOLD MEDAL 2006

Citation

23 November 2006

The Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS) Gold Medal was inaugurated in 1984. It is the organisation's highest award and recognises an outstanding contribution by an individual to improving quality and safety in Australian health services.

The ACHS has awarded the Gold Medal for 2006 to Professor Ross Holland for his personal leadership, commitment and devotion to anaesthesia safety.

In the early 1960s Professor Holland, and his colleague Professor Douglas Joseph, established the NSW Deaths under Anaesthesia Committee; a world-first approach to quality assurance in anaesthesia. Professor Holland was the inaugural Secretary of the Committee and later appointed as its Chair. He remains an active member.

This groundbreaking project was one of the first ever large multi-centre quality activities in medicine, let alone in anaesthesia. This outstanding achievement has been emulated internationally and embedded in each State in Australia. It has directly improved the mortality figures for anaesthesia in Australia.

Professor Holland was also Chairman of the ACHS Board of Directors from 1981 until 1983 during which time he oversaw an expansion of the education program as well as a focus on ensuring funding and costs were appropriately managed. Significantly it was during Professor Holland’s time as Chairman that the Board decided to publicly release the names of accredited hospitals.

In more recent years Professor Holland has been extremely active in the preservation of the heritage of the practice of anaesthesia. He is also recognised for his clinical teaching skills and continues to provide consultant advice to specific community groups.

To quote from his nomination from the Australian Society of Anaesthetists, “Professor Holland’s long and distinguished career reflects an exceptional individual who has dedicated his professional life to developing the specialty of anaesthesia through both education and the reduction of mortality rates. He is well respected…..by his peers and past students. His contribution to the community is well above that of his colleagues and his support for the profession….is outstanding.”

The ACHS is proud and pleased to honour Professor Holland with our highest award for his life-work and outstanding commitment to quality and safety in Australian health services.

Dr Michael Hodgson AM

President, ACHS