This week our guest is the former Member of Parliament and Minister of Health, Dr. Jonathan Coleman.

Dr. Coleman spent almost 13 years as the MP for Northcote, and during that time was a key member of the inner circle in John Key’s National Party led government. During his parliamentary career he held Ministerial responsibility for health, broadcasting, sport & recreation, immigration and state services.

His early career saw him practising medicine in New Zealand and overseas and he even had a stint as a doctor on Australia’s Royal Flying Doctor Service.

During the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, he speaks to Bruce about the importance of local communities, why centralising health decision making is wrong, and the newly announced funding for Pharmac.

As a former Minister of Health, Coleman has a unique perspective on the state of our health services, the things we do well and the areas where we under-perform. He openly discusses the financial constraints in the health sector and the challenges of recruitment in the international marketplace for talent.

Finally, he discusses the decision to go from the top job in the Health Ministry, back to life as a suburban GP.

As someone who once put his hand up to be Prime Minister, in the wake of John Key’s resignation, we hear what he would do, if he was PM for a day.

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