Michael Ardagh

Mike Ardagh, (ONZM, PhD, MBChB, DCH, FACEM), is Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Otago, Christchurch, Specialist in Emergency Medicine and Clinical Lead for the Canterbury Initiative and Hospital HealthPathways at the Canterbury District Health Board, Christchurch, New Zealand.

---

Spiders From Mars - Integrated Webs

In 1954 a football game at a stadium in Florence was interrupted when cigar shaped UFOs travelling at high speed abruptly stopped over the stadium. They were described by locals as aliens from Mars. However, officially it was decided the phenomenon was due to mass webs of migrating spiders. Subsequently they attracted the revised descriptor; ‘spiders from Mars.’ David Bowie’s backing band in the early 1970s adopted this name; the Spiders from Mars, based on this disputed encounter. Bowie’s album, Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, including the iconic single ‘Starman’ ensued.
​
The somewhat tenuous (perhaps spidery) link between the title of this presentation and its content is partly related to the session title, but more related to the concept of webs. Specifically, it will describe the Canterbury Initiative, which is a proactive system change and innovation team which works at interfaces in the health system, discussing, agreeing and integrating processes. The HealthPathways programme, which is a vehicle to deliver this work, will also be discussed.