Dr Alex Psirides

Intensive Care Specialist, Wellington Regional Hospital, NZ 

Alex is co-director of Wellington ICU and medical director of the aeromedical retrieval service. He trained in London, Australia and New Zealand and has been involved in the design and implementation of hospital rapid response systems in several countries. In this capacity he led the Health Quality & Safety Commission’s national ‘Deteriorating Patient’ programme between 2016-2021. Through this work, New Zealand has implemented a national evidence-based Early Warning Score, a standardised vital signs chart, a patient & family escalation system and a national shared goals of care approach to ensuring all treatment provided to in-patients is both wanted and warranted. He currently chairs the national ICU advisory group to the Ministry of Health. He remains interested in how hospitals (often fail to) recognise dying patients and thinks we could & should do better. His career highlight remains providing intensive care to a chimpanzee in Wellington Zoo. He died. Alex would have written more papers if he spent less time arguing with strangers on Twitter.

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