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During his first weeks in charge of guiding the country through the coronavirus pandemic, Dr. Ashley Bloomfield struggled to sleep.
He had dreams about Covid-19 and moments of self-doubt, and when he presided over a press conference for the first time he was “nervous as heck.”
In a podcast hosted by Sir John Kirwan, the CEO of Health revealed how he faced the pressure and stress that comes with having to make important decisions for the country, often based on limited information.
RYAN ANDERSON / Stuff
Health Director General Dr. Ashley Bloomfield at a press conference in September when he and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced changes to the country’s alert levels.
Bloomfield said that despite knowing that a health crisis of such magnitude could occur, “when it happens, you are never prepared for it.”
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“This is a kind of leadership challenge, it’s how to give good advice and make decisions when no one knows what is going to happen. There is a lot of uncertainty.
“I found it really difficult at first because this just occurred to us… I realized that I was not sleeping well and that would affect my ability to perform well. There was almost a crucial moment where I thought, what is it that I can control? ”He told Kirwan on the podcast, called Open minded: leadership during a pandemic.
“All you can do is get up every day, play what’s in front of you, work with your team members, but most of all, be true to yourself and your values.”
Bloomfield has previously spoken about her mental health and fighting anxiety during the Covid-19 crisis.
“I had a lot of mornings, especially early in the pandemic, where I would wake up and think, ‘God, can I really do this? I wish this wasn’t happening, ‘”she said in a question and answer session during Mental Health Week.
Speaking to Kirwan, Bloomfield said that he sought advice and opinions from people he trusted and respected, and the support and feedback he received from other public servants gave him confidence in the advice he was giving the government.
But drawing on his more than two decades of medical knowledge and experience, Bloomfield said he had to “just stand behind me.”
“Meanwhile, it’s going up, being myself, being authentic, being honest and saying what I know, what I don’t know. And if there’s something that went wrong, say OK, we’ll see it and see how we can fix it, “said Bloomfield.
Stacy Squires / Stuff
The Director General of Health said he is still nervous when facing press conferences, months after his first confrontation related to the coronavirus pandemic. (File photo)
Advising the Cabinet to blockade the country for four weeks was “a very important thing,” he said. “I never thought I’d do that in my career.”
Bloomfield acknowledged that authorities had not tackled the pandemic perfectly for the past eight months, but had learned to control outbreaks quickly.
Now is not a time for complacency, he said.
“We are not going to rest on our laurels. We are checking. We will come back and keep improving … It won’t go 100% right even if you know what the playbook is …
“We cannot afford to call it a failure and say who is responsible, who is going to resign. Because we will simply stop learning and stop adapting. And that’s what has served us really well to date. “
