Health Minister Announces Key Appointments to Health Regulatory Authorities

Health Minister Simeon Brown has today announced a series of appointments and reappointments to four health regulatory authorities.

At the Midwifery Council, Melanie Tarrant has been reappointed, with Suzanne MacIntosh and Laura López joining as new members.

The Nursing Council of New Zealand will see Iosefa Paituli Tiata reappointed, alongside the appointment of Professor Sharon Brownie, Dr Frances Hughes, Anthony Hill, and Tony Ward.

The New Zealand Medical Radiation Technologists Board will include the reappointment of Peter Dooley, together with new members Dr Andrea Doubleday and Nic Ross.

The Medical Sciences Council of New Zealand will include reappointments for Brett Besley, Ruth Beeston and Dr Nicola Swain, with Marike Rossouw, Grandy Li, and Dr David Cumin appointed as new members.

All of these councils and boards play a vital role in protecting the health and safety of New Zealanders by ensuring practitioners are fit and competent to practice, and I thank each of the appointees for their commitment to patients, Mr Brown says.

All terms of office will commence on 29 September 2025.

Midwifery Council – biographies Melanie Tarrant was first appointed to the Council in October 2018. She is a current member of the Health New Zealand Technical Advisory Group of the National Perinatal Bereavement Care Pathway, and a Trustee of the Food for Thought Educational Trust, a charitable trust focused on teaching children across New Zealand valuable nutrition education skills.

Suzanne MacIntosh is an experienced midwife and has worked in both New Zealand and the United Kingdom. She is currently a Midwife Clinical Coach for Health New Zealand Counties Manukau and has previous experience as a Senior Core Midwife. She is a preceptor and educator of student midwives, mentors first year midwifery practice, and coaches new graduate midwives.

Laura López is currently a member of the University of Otago’s Women’s Health Advisory Group and has previously held roles as an Administrator in Finance Transition for Playcentre Aotearoa and Vice President of Public Relations for Wadestown Toastmasters Club. She has also taken on a variety of volunteer roles at Wilton Playcentre, including Co-President and Treasurer.

Nursing Council of New Zealand – biographies Iosefa Paituli Tiata has been a member of the Council since 2018. He is a minister at Mount Roskill’s Congregational Christian Church Samoa and has worked as a financial controller for the Church in Samoa for six years and was its chief accountant for five years.

Professor Sharon Brownie has over 40 years of nursing experience and is currently the Director of Health Strategy and Partnerships at Swinburne University of Technology in Victoria, Australia. She has held a number of academic and educational roles internationally. She has previously been in roles where she was responsible for sizable budgets and health workforce development mandates, such as Chief Executive of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists.

Dr  Frances Hughes is a Registered Nurse and has an extensive background in nursing and health care executive and governance positions globally, Australia (Queensland), the Pacific region and New Zealand. Her speciality area of practice is health policy, mental health, high and complex disability, and aged care. Dr Hughes has been international recognised for her leadership and made a companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2020 for services to nursing and mental health.

Anthony Hill is a Barrister and is a member of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Lessons Learned from Aotearoa New Zealand’s Response to COVID-19 (Phase 2) and was the Health and Disability Commissioner from 2010-2020.

Tony Ward brings over 30 years of experience across nursing, paramedicine and tertiary education. He has led the Paramedicine programme and served as Head of Discipline across Paramedicine and Perioperative Practice at Auckland University of Technology, while lecturing widely across postgraduate health curriculums. Mr Ward is a Registered Nurse, Registered Critical Care Paramedic and Registered Extended Care Paramedic. He brings practical frontline experience in across New Zealand and internationally (Australia, the Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste) together with a deep knowledge of education, clinical systems, and service development.

New Zealand Medical Radiation Technologists Board – biographies Peter Dooley has been a member of the Board since March 2017. Mr Dooley has over 20 years' experience as a Medical Imaging Technologist including one year practising in the United Kingdom. He has a Bachelor of Medical Imaging from Christchurch Polytechnic and an MRI Post Graduate Diploma from Unitec New Zealand. Mr Dooley also has experience as a Guest Lecturer for Medical Imaging at Ara Institute of Canterbury.

Andrea Doubleday currently works for the University of Auckland where she is a Senior Lecturer and Programme Director for the Bachelor of Medical Imaging in the Department of Anatomy and Medical Imaging and is the Course Director for five courses. She has  over 30 years’ experience in academia and over 40 years’ experience as a Medical Imaging Technologist. She has previously served in roles such as Clinical Programme Leader for the Bachelor of Health Science (Medical Imaging) at Unitec and has held multiple roles as a senior lecturer in medical imaging for Unitec, Deakin University in Melbourne, and the University of Auckland.

Nic Ross is an experienced medical imaging and nuclear medicine technologist, with over 20 years' experience. He is currently employed as the Charge for Computed Tomography and Positron Emission Tomography and Computed Tomography (PETCT) and has been the Manager at I-MED Hamilton Radiology since 2014. He also held the role of United Kingdom PETCT and Nuclear Medicine Specialist at IBA Molecular. He has experience with the New Zealand Society of Medical Imaging and Radiation Technology where he was the Regional Director for the Waikato and Bay of Plenty area from 2014 to 2023, and the President from 2016 to 2018.

Medical Sciences Council of New Zealand – biographies Brett Besley has been a member of the Council since 2019 and served as the Chair from 2020 to 2024. He has over 20 years' experience as an anaesthetic technician and during this time has served in education and facilitator roles. He is currently employed as an Anaesthetic Technician for Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Bay of Plenty.

Ruth Beeston has been a member of the Council since 2019 and is the current Chair. She has over 30 years’ experience in the medical laboratory field and has worked in both specialist and routine biochemistry laboratories.

Dr Nicola Swain has been a member of the Council since 2018, is the current Deputy Chair, and is also the Chair of the Medical Sciences Secretariat. She has previously served as the Chair of the Examination Committee, and on the appointment committees for both the new Chief Executive. Dr Swain holds a number of governance roles and is currently a member of the Human Rights Review Tribunal.

Marike Rossouw is a qualified Medical Laboratory Pre-Analytical Technicianin Phlebotomy from the New Zealand Institute of Medical Laboratory Science and is currently the Patient Services Manager for Awanui Labs in Auckland, where she oversees nearly 300 pre-analytical staff across the region.

Grandy Li has over 15 years' experience as a medical laboratory scientist and is currently the Head of Department in the Specimen Reception for Awanui Labs Dunedin where she leads a team of over 20 professionals and actively participates in Continuing Professional Development (CPD) as a member of the Awanui CPD moderation group.

Dr David Cumin has over a decade of governance experience and is a Senior Lecturer in the department of Anaesthesiology at the University of. Dr Cumin currently holds roles on the University of Auckland School of Medicine Postgraduate Board of Studies Committee and the Auckland Health Research Ethics Committee and the School of Medicine Research Committee.