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Bay of Plenty District Health Board staff newsCheckup

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designed and printed by the BOPDHB’s Design and Print team

July 2012

Three nurses make a big impression on Hand Hygiene Day at Tauranga Hospital.

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Overview

By Helen Mason, General Manager Planning and Funding

Every year the DHB prepares an Annual Plan which sets out the health outcomes we hope to achieve for the people of the Bay of Plenty and how we propose to go about it.

Guest Columnist Bay Navigator – building relationships By Joe Bourne, GP Liaison

There are a number of challenges currently facing healthcare. We are working in a difficult financial climate, being asked to deliver more with no additional resources. Scientific innovation continues to develop increasingly complex and expensive treatments and with those patient expectations also increase.

In this environment, different parts of the health system can start to compete for the available resources. Our passions lie in the branch of medicine in which we work. Our professional standards demand that we do the best we can for the patient in front of us. But what are the costs to those patients who are not in front of us, those patients who already find it difficult to access health services?

In my area – general practice - the relationship between a patient and their doctor is key. Whilst a number of different models now exist for delivering primary care, studies continue to show that a trusting relationship is a high priority for patients. This is the key to why many

people retain trust in their GPs at a time when it is disappearing in other aspects of life.

Bay Navigator is working at the interface between primary and secondary care seeking where appropriate to transform the way we deliver health services to

our population. Clinical pathways are being developed that guide clinicians to provide evidence-based health care in the Bay of Plenty health system. Digital platforms are being developed to improve communication and access to teaching resources. Primary care clinicians are being given access to hospital-based lab results.

For me though the most significant impact Bay Navigator is delivering is in building relationships between primary and secondary clinicians, between doctors and other members of the healthcare team, and between clinicians and health service managers.

Regardless of where we sit in the health system we have a common goal - enabling communities to achieve good health and independence and ensure access to high quality services. By building trusting relationships between all aspects of the health service we can start to understand the world that exists outside of our silo and in doing so we will be better able to deliver services based not on the needs of health systems but on those of our patients.

The plan is strongly influenced by the Minister’s expectations and our Board’s priorities. This year, the Minister has asked DHBs to lift productivity, keep to budget, reduce waiting times (particularly for surgery, diagnostics and cancer, child and youth drug and alcohol treatment) and focus strongly on service integration with primary care.

Our Board has identified five strategic priorities: Primary Care; Maori health and reducing health disparities; long term conditions; Health Targets; and the health of older people.

A great deal of effort goes into preparing our Annual Plan, including significant engagement and input from our key stakeholders, in particular our Public Health Organisations (PHOs).

There are some changes you can expect to see in the 2012/13 plan: it has been flavoured by our new values CARE (Compassion, Attitude, Responsiveness and Excellence); a

strong focus on reducing health inequalities; and greater regional consistency between the Midland DHBs’ Annual Plans (Taranaki, Tairawhiti, Waikato, Lakes and Bay of Plenty).

Once our Annual Plan has been approved by the Minister, a copy will be available on our website: www.bopdhb.govt.nz News & Publications \ Plans & Reports. This is likely to be in early July. This year, we will be preparing a condensed version, which will also be available on our website.

The cover of our 2012/13 Annual Plan shows staff member John Welch with his whanau. His daughter Maddison is clearly having a great time. This was the first time Maddison’s great grandmother had been on the beach in 10 years; a really memorable occasion. The photo encapsulates our vision of “healthy, thriving communities”, with a strong focus on supporting our elderly population to maintain independence, while at the same time focusing on keeping our children well.

Annual Plan 2012/13

Healthy, thriving communities - Kia Momoho Te Hapori Oranga

Daniels Sharps container auditBy Ted Harper, Employee Health and Safety Service Manager

During June Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) reps will be encouraging staff working in clinical areas and users of Sharps containers to watch the Daniel Training video.

We want to ensure we are: using them correctly; not over filling them; not putting non-clinical waste in them; and locating them at the correct height (1.3m). The link to the video can be found under “What’s New” on the right-hand side of the Pacentral home page.

Make sure you have watched this important video to keep yourself and others safe.

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By Margot McCool, Operations Manager Acorn Foundation

The St John ambulance fleet in Tauranga will soon be equipped with Bone Drills, for administering life-saving fluids to seriously injured patients, thanks to the generosity of a local couple.

Elva and Ray Shepherd met and married where they both grew up in Fielding. They moved to Tauranga in 1974 and lived very happily here for the remainder of their years.

The Shepherds did not have children of their own, but both were passionate about their local community, and generous in their support of local causes. Elva once said, “I want to see other people benefiting from what my husband and I have worked and saved for. This gives me a real sense of joy.”

The sum they left through their endowment fund has been invested by the Acorn Foundation, and now every year around

$65,000 of investment income will be distributed to the six charities chosen by the Shepherds: Waipuna Hospice; Saint Columba Presbyterian Church, Otumoetai; Royal NZ Foundation of The Blind; NZ Heart Foundation; The Order of St Johns; and CCS Disability Action.

The Order of St John has elected to use these funds to equip each of their ambulances with a bone drill, at a cost of around $1200 each.

It is hugely beneficial for all of these organisations to know that this money will be coming to them each year, so they can plan for it and don’t have to go through the process of applying and waiting to hear how much, if any, they will get.

The Acorn Foundation can accommodate any wishes a donor may have in terms of how their funds are to be used. Some donors choose to leave it up to the Acorn trustees to decide how to allocate their money; others (like the Shepherds) have nominated the organisations that are to benefit.

If there is a local community organisation that you are passionate about, talk to the Acorn Foundation to learn how you could support it, every year, forever. Phone 579 9839 or visit www.acornfoundation.org.nz.

Elva and Ray Shepherd have now passed away, but their generous spirit lives on through the endowment fund they set up through Tauranga’s Acorn Foundation.

Age Concern Tauranga’s Accredited Visiting Service has won the 2012 Supreme Trustpower Award for a community service.

The service is funded through the Bay of Plenty District Health Board. Age Concern Tauranga works to serve the needs of older people through a national office and 33 member branches. They provide services, information and advocacy in response to local needs.

There are four main areas of service in Tauranga; supportive services (fielding calls, visits, monthly meetings, driver refresher courses); total mobility discount taxi vouchers; elder abuse and neglect prevention; and the Accredited Visiting Service.

Older people become isolated very quickly once they lose loved ones. Some lose the ability to drive or are limited by their physical well-being. This isolation can mean extreme loneliness that leads to decline in general health. In the past year, under the Accredited Visiting Service Age Concern Tauranga has

Age Concern Tauranga wins awardBy Mike Tyrer, Age Concern Tauranga Manager

Age Concern Tauranga’s Accredited Visiting Service (funded by the BOPDHB) has won the 2012 Supreme Trustpower Award for a community service. From left: Trustpower CEO Vince Hawksworth, Age Concern Tauranga Manager Mike Tyrer and Mayor Stuart Crosby.

Vital ambulance equipment acquired by St John

matched 125 visitors with clients. These volunteers have made over 4000 visits. They have coffee and a chat in the home and as friendships develop, take them out on trips to local amenities or to friends they have lost touch with.

A coordinator matches a client with a visitor with both interests and location in mind. One hour a week is the minimum requirement and this builds with time, with the visitor phoning on a regular basis, taking the client out and becoming their friend. In total, Age Concern Tauranga has approximately 180 volunteers. The continuing demand for services indicates the importance of combatting social isolation which enables an older person to remain in their own homes for their own benefit, health and wellbeing.

Winning the award is a tremendous boost to Age Concern’s profile in the community and it is rewarding to see that these services are recognised.

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By Michele Dunlop, Registered Nurse

Smoking home-grown or ‘chop chop’ tobacco could be causing a difficult to treat strain of pneumonia according to the Lung Heath Promotion Centre, Royal Alfred in Melbourne.

times in patient care when staff should clean their hands – before touching a patient, before a procedure, after a procedure or body fluid exposure, after touching a patient, and after touching things in the patient environment.

For more information visit www.handhygiene.org.nz.

From left: Clinical Nurse Specialist Infection Control Adrienne Stewart, Clinical Nurse Educator Diane Hishon and Clinical Nurse Specialist Infection Control Robyn Boyne make an impression on their hospital walk-about reminding staff about the importance of good hand hygiene.

By Mark Roberts, IT Delivery Manager

From June to August the Information Technology Department will be busy upgrading Microsoft Office to the 2010 version, and migrating the email system to Exchange 2010. This is likely to involve some short-term discomfort for users of these systems. These upgrades are essential to maintain a secure and supported computing environment.

As there are almost 2000 computers to upgrade, this is a major undertaking. During the month of May a self-installed upgrade to Office 2010 was available. Now the upgrade is being pushed to many computers automatically. It is important that this happens so that when the Exchange 2010 upgrade begins in July all users will be able to still access their emails. Outlook 2003 does not work with Exchange 2010.

Office users are encouraged to look at the on-line Office 2010 training available via Pacentral. This will allow an easier transition to the new suite of applications. The training material is linked from the Pacentral home page.

The Exchange 2010 migration involves moving mailboxes from the old servers to the new Exchange 2010. As we have 4000 mailboxes and over 800Gb of mail related data, this will take quite a while. This will start on July 2 and is expected to be completed by the middle of August.

During the migration period there will be a few short-term issues. People with mailboxes on the old servers will not be able to see the calendar availability (free/busy) information from mailboxes on Exchange 2010. There may be issues accessing mailboxes and folders between Exchange versions.

For further details, click on the IT Bulletin Board link on Pacentral.

Email system upgrade – what you need to know

Dangers of smoking hit home

Clean hands save livesBy Robyn Boyne, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Infection Control

The World Health Organisation (WHO) Save Lives: Clean Your Hands day is celebrated annually on May 5. At Tauranga Hospital on May 3 members of the infection control and education teams dressed up and walked around the wards and departments to reward staff with a Mintie when ‘caught’ cleaning their hands.

Some staff also took the opportunity to use a disclosing lotion, and then wash their hands and look under an ultraviolet light see how well they had done. This is a good way to show how effective good hand hygiene can be.

There is overwhelming evidence that cross infection in hospitals occurs most frequently via the hands of healthcare workers. Cleaning your hands properly is very important, but so too is the timing of when to do this. The “5 Moments for Hand Hygiene” identifies the most important

Along with other colleagues from New Zealand, I attended a two day smoking cessation course at the centre in March. The Lung Health Centre is part of the Department of Allergy, Immunology and Respiratory Medicine. Most of those attending had funding to set up cessation clinics, generally under the umbrella of their speciality role.

The biggest message I took away from the course was to advise those who grow their own about the increased dangers.

These cigarettes tend to be rolled much more loosely than tailor-made which means they burn faster and the smoker inhales a lot more carbon monoxide and other smoke toxins. People somehow believe they are less toxic than those which have been through a factory

process. However tobacco manufacturers are obliged to process tobacco though an auditable process - cleaning, sterilizing and drying. Home-grown tobacco misses these processes and carries a complement of potentially very harmful protozoa and fungus.

One of the problems presented at the course was patients not getting prescriptions for NRT quickly enough. I am now able to appreciate our ease of giving people vouchers for NRT.

Lung Health is a committed and energetic bunch of educators with lots of training on offer. Visit their website for more information: http://www.lunghealth.org/courses-mainmenu-30/range.listevents/-

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Bay supermarkets jump onboard

By Anne Gosling, BOP Addiction Service Clinical Team Leader

The Bay of Plenty Addiction Service is the new name for the Community Alcohol and Drug Service (CADS).

The new name reflects the fact that we’re a specialist secondary service working with people who have moderate to severe alcohol and other drug problems. We are also now a regional service incorporating Whakatane staff.

By Frances Rameka, Communications Advisor

The support from supermarkets across the Bay for the Be Wise: Immunise campaign has helped boost immunisation numbers. Photo courtesy of Sonya Bateson, Whakatane Beacon.

More than 100 extra staff have taken up the free seasonal influenza vaccination this year compared to 2011. All going well we hope to vaccinate over 50 per cent of staff for this flu season.

New name for Bay-wide serviceThe service encompasses the whole Bay of Plenty from Waihi Beach to Te Kaha and as far inland as Ruatahuna. The teams are based at Kowhai House in Tauranga (first floor above Community Mental Health) and at the Community Mental Health & Addiction premises at Commerce Street in Whakatane, as well as satellite clinics which take place at Opotiki, Kawerau, Te Puke and Katikati.

Services offered include advice and assessment, counselling, detox services, group work and Opioid Substitution Treatment (methadone). The team comes from a variety of disciplines including nursing, social work, counselling, psychiatry and psychology - all supported by a great team of administrators.

Members of the newly named Bay of Plenty Addiction Service. Front row from left: Anne Gosling, Sally Whitelaw, Kirsty Stenhouse, Catherine Crowther, Linda Thompson, Jo Nehoff (seated) Robyn Crawford-Taylor, Steven Robertson and Marie Gardiner. Middle row: Naomi Oliver. Back row: Andy Walford and Suzanne Laird.

For the last 12 months, doctors, nurses, public health nurses, practice nurses, Well Child providers, Outreach immunisers, HPV vaccination team members, child care staff and DHB staff have been wearing their Be Wise: Immunise t-shirts every Tuesday.

The initiative was launched last year to raise awareness of the need to immunise and to boost the rate of immunisation across the whole of the Bay of Plenty.

Support from local supermarkets is also helping to increase the Bay of Plenty immunisation figures. Throughout the month of May supermarkets across the Bay have been displaying posters and banners prominently in their stores, as a strong visual reminder to caregivers to vaccinate their children. The supermarkets that supported the campaign were New World Mount Maunganui and Brookfield, and Pak’n Save Papamoa, Tauranga and Whakatane. The posters and banners were also displayed at the Gull petrol station in Mount Maunganui.

Protect yourself and your patients

Code TGA WHK

Doctors A 178 29

Nurses B 442 84

Midwives C 21 3

Non Staff D 89 11

Allied Staff E 187 54

Other Employees F 319 64

Health Care Assist G 62 3 TOTAL

1298 248 1546

By Ted Harper, Employee Health and Safety Service Manager

The influenza vaccination is free for all staff and is still being provided via the Health Clinics. To make an appointment click on the nurse icon on the homepage of Pacentral.

The chart below shows the numbers who have taken up the free vaccination by employee group so far this year:

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“When I was first graduated you relied on your pocket watch for everything; from counting the heartbeat to counting every drop going through the drip,” she said. “We’d listen to the baby’s heartbeat using a wooden stethoscope.”

Jenny graduated in 1968 and apart from time away to have her own children, Jenny was a well respected Maternity Nurse at Whakatane Hospital for nearly 45 years.

Jenny remembers how she was welcomed by her colleagues when she first arrived in Whakatane.

“When I arrived at Whakatane Hospital in 1967, Miss Booth was the Matron and Mr Upsdell the Medical Superintendant. Sister Brenda Rogers was in charge of maternity. I enjoyed my time in the nurses home and have a lot of good memories there. Back then obstetric cover was provided by GPs with caesarean sections performed by general surgeons (Des Collins will remember those times). The first obs/gynae consultant to be appointed at Whakatane Hospital was Brendon Keane - a very nice man with a deep voice and BIG hands!”

Overseas travel is keeping Jenny busy in her retirement.

“I’ve just returned from Vietnam and we’re off to Fiji for a family reunion soon,” said Jenny. “After these trips, I’ll take some time to settle into retirement and do all the things I’ve been putting off for years.”

More than 60 friends and colleagues joined Jenny at a retirement dinner. Health Care Assistant Heather Dench had a few surprises up her sleeve for Jenny.

“I was really touched by how many people attended,” said Jenny. “People travelled from far and wide and Heather got in touch with colleagues I’d worked with in the past and not seen for years. It was wonderful.”

Retiring in styleWhen Maternity Nurse Jenny Reneti retired in March, her lasting memories were of how much things had changed over the years.

Jenny’s family join the celebrations. From left: Jenny’s husband William, Jenny, Jenny’s son-in-law Carl, Jenny’s daughter Kylie and her grandson Cole.

Past, present and new graduate midwives join Jenny Reneti in celebrating more than 40 years service at Whakatane Hospital.

Maternity Nurse Jenny Reneti (centre) celebrates her retirement with Whakatane Midwife Manager Maggie Saddlier (left) and Midwife Leader Marg Norris.

Tauranga Hospital Management Journal Club By Penny Horton, Education Manager

Managers and team leaders have the opportunity to attend informative, motivational, challenging presentations from a range of internal and external speakers at the Tauranga Hospital Management Journal Club.

The club is held most months on a Tuesday from 7am-8am in the Education Centre. If you’re not normally an early riser and turning out at this hour presents a challenge - even for a stimulating educational event - we offer the enticement of breakfast while you listen.

Management Journal Club provides a forum to debate new management/leadership concepts; explore relevance of new management/leadership knowledge in the health environment; stimulates managers to look outside the square; to learn and develop further leadership skills. In addition, it creates the opportunity to develop presentation skills (just let us know when you would like to present!).

Presenters this year have included: BOPDHB Operations Coordinator for Emergency Planning and Support Stuart Taylor; Associate Professor for Entrepreneurship and Strategy at Waikato Management School Jens Mueller; Midland Region Dementia Coordinator Ruth Thomas; and Quality and Risk Coordinator Averil Boon.

If these topics sound interesting and you missed the event, some presentations can be viewed by logging in to the Midland Learning site MOODLE - click the Pukeko icon on Pacentral, then select Forums.

We’d like to hear your feedback on the Management Journal Club so keep an eye out for a survey coming soon.

The next Management Journal Club is on July 17. If you are not currently on the invitation list but would like to hear about meetings, please discuss with your manager/team leader.

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By Jill Craig, Registered Nurse Mental Health Inpatient Unit

On a chilly morning with our breath steaming up and jogging on the spot to keep warm, Patrick White, Amy Blair, Israel White and myself from the Mental Health for Older People – In Patient Unit (otherwise known as the Mental Health Manics), lined up amongst many other competitors to take part in a unique challenge called The Tangaroa Challenge.

This team based multisport event consists of a 6km run, 7km kayak, run up to the top of Mauao and back down, finally finishing with a 14km bike ride. All events had to be completed by all members of the team allowing no more than 50 metres apart between each team mate. It certainly put a new spin on team building!

An awesome time was had by all including the task of navigating some very choppy waters, developing a stitch whilst running, surf rescue for one member (who shall remain nameless) and a chain coming off one of the bikes, all of which was hilariously witnessed and energetically cheered on by our enthusiastic support crew.

After refuelling on sausages, winning a couple of

fab spot prizes and generally feeling pretty darn good about completing the event without the need for ambulance services, we had the added bonus of being presented with third place in our category.

With this podium placement under our belt it has spurned us on (along with the assistance of SWEAT) to new heights. Our next challenge is the Tough Girl/Guy Challenge on August 18. Anyone care to join us?

Hanlen is our Hero - a team of supporters from Whakatane will be cheering on Karen Hanlen at the Olympics in London.

Karen in her Olympic t-shirt.

Mental Health team take on Tangaroa Challenge

A dream comes trueBy Susan Langdon, Physiotherapy Team Leader

Whakatane physiotherapist Karen Hanlen will represent New Zealand at this year’s Olympics and we couldn’t be more proud.

When Karen and her husband Mark received the news there were cheers of pure joy. A year of hard work for both of them had paid off. Karen will represent New Zealand on August 11 in Leigh-on–Sea in the Women’s Cross Country Mountain Biking event.

Since the news broke, Karen has been part of a media and internet frenzy, but she is now back into training for the next race in France, two weeks out from her Olympic event.

Good Luck Karen. We know you will do us proud.

The Mental Health Manics complete The Tangaroa Challenge.

By Gwenda Ruegg, Social Worker

Attending a recent sign language taster class helped me to realise the true value in learning signs we can use with our patients.

The class took place during Sign Language Week (April 30-May 6) at Whakatane Hospital and was led by the Tauranga Sign Week Coordinator Marlis Resenterra Wiesmann. Local resident Chris Sinclair shared his story of being deaf and how to let your hand do the talking.

Chris is a local young man completing his teaching degree and works in the Special Education Room at James Street Primary School in Whakatane. He was so patient with his ‘new’ pupils who spent an engaging and fun time learning the basics of a totally new language. Hands and fingers were flying, and of course there was a lot of laughter when individually we began to put our new sentences and words together with the hope

Let your hands do the talking

of someone recognising what we were trying to say.

A very handy booklet called ‘Let’s Talk’ covers NZ Sign Language for Medical Situations and is available from the website www.nzsign.co.nz. The booklet has 25 signs to learn ranging from the simple sign for appointment through to tablet, vomit and medicine. These simple medical terms make it easier to communicate and certainly would break down barriers for many deaf patients.

For more information visit the website www.nzsign.co.nz. To find out when another class is being held contact Marlis Resenterra Wiesmann at the Deaf Aotearoa NZ offices at the Historic Village, 17th Ave Tauranga.

Whakatane resident Chris Sinclair (left) teaches DHB staff the sign for ‘Doctor’ at a sign language taster class held recently at Whakatane Hospital.

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By Ted Harper, Employee Health and Safety Service Manager

To top off the BOPDHB’s success last year in winning the Regional OH&S Westpac award, we were nominated as finalists this year in the National OH&S Safeguard Awards in three out of 10 categories: Best Wellness Initiative for Employee Wellness; Best Significant Health Safety Initiative by a Large Organisation; and Most influential OH&S Employee. Lucy Cairns was the OH&S Rep in the outpatients department nominated for the Most Influential OH&S Employee Award. Although we were not winners, it is still a remarkable achievement as the DHB was competing against large corporate commercial organisations. It demonstrated how well our DHB health and safety programs are going and that we have some exceptional staff to be proud of.

Changes ahead in elective surgery

Three elective surgery projects are underway at BOPDHB funded by the Elective Services Productivity and Workforce programme by the Ministry of Health.

The projects are being led by myself with support from three senior nurses - Colorectal Senior Clinical Nurse Helen Collins, Orthopaedics Clinical Nurse Specialist Lesley Warner, and Upper GI Surgery Senior Clinical Nurse Sharon Hilton.

The first is Enhanced Recovery after Surgery (ERAS) for colorectal patients. This is a Midland-wide project being led by the BOPDHB. Recent workshops have provided information on the principles of ERAS and how to implement the programme within our DHB.

International Nurses Day

Members of the public receive information from Liaison Psychiatry Registered Nurse Julie Woods at the International Nurses Day display at Tauranga Hospital.

three common themes emerged from the public enquiries: where to seek help for domestic violence; how to manage depression in men; and how to manage alcohol, drug taking and depression in adolescents. Fortunately the stand was well-stocked with resources and there were experienced mental health staff available to provide information and contacts for community agencies such as CAMHS and women’s refuge.

The nursing staff were guided by the practice development team to search evidence–based practice sites on laptops provided in the staff cafeteria – as well as try a piece of the delicious International Nurses Day chocolate cake. The night staff at both hospitals who may have missed out on some of the daytime activities were provided with neck and shoulder massages between 11pm-3am by two ‘roving masseurs’.

These workshops have been well attended by staff from the five Midland DHBs.

The Elective Orthopaedic Redesign project is a review of the pathway for patients from primary care presentation through to secondary care and discharge. It involves the development of primary care protocols and referral criteria, thorough pre-operative intervention to optimise patient preparation, and enhanced inpatient management to include early mobilisation and reduced length of stay.

The final project is Direct Access Pathway for Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy Surgery. The intention is to pilot a pathway to enable selected patients requiring gall bladder surgery to: be prepared by their GP for surgery; have a day of surgery admission (DOSA); be discharged on same day as surgery; and be followed up post-operatively by their GP.

The team representing the BOPDHB at the Safeguard Award Dinner held at Sky City in Auckland. From left: Employee Health Safety Service Manager Ted Harper, Quality & Patient Safety Coordinator Lucy Cairns, Health Promotion Officer Meghan Ruha and GM Governance Gail Bingham.

Employees to be proud of

By Wendy Carey, Project Manager

By Liz Buckley, Nurse Coordinator Practice Development

International Nurses Day is observed around the world on May 12 each year - the anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth. As the 12th fell on a Saturday this year, it was decided to hold the BOPDHB celebrations on Friday May 11.

With the theme ‘Closing the gap: from evidence to action’ it was appropriate that nurse educators from Whakatane and Tauranga hospitals led the celebrations.

The focus was on understanding evidence-based practice, accessing sources of evidence, moving from evidence to action and making the case for practice changes. As a group it was decided to inform not only nurses on how evidence and research inform nursing practice but also the general public. A range of displays in the main entrances of both Tauranga and Whakatane hospitals highlighted the topics of falls prevention, mental health, wound care and best practice in administration of asthma medications - nebuliser versus spacer.

The general public were very interested in the falls prevention stand, and fascinated by the non-slip socks and where they could be purchased. The stand that attracted the most interest and questioning was the mental health stand where

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Planning and Funding on the moveBy Helen Mason, General Manager Planning and Funding

The Planning and Funding department of the BOPDHB will be moving on July 13 to 290 Cameron Road, above Johns Photo Pharmacy. We will be unavailable all day on July 13 and 16 and unable to access telephones or emails. All of our other contact details will remain the same.

Online developments underwayBy Kimberley Bray, Communications Advisor

There has been an online redevelopment project underway since the beginning of the year. To date the team has delivered a reinvigorated Bay Navigator site, which has been designed in collaboration with health professionals, to act as the Bay of Plenty’s leading clinical resource.

The team has also delivered a New Zealand first in a pathway tool that is able to be used by clinical teams working in Bay Navigator pathway groups, without IT intervention.

Both the site and the pathway tool have been receiving significant interest from our colleagues across the Midland Region as well as within the Ministry.

The team is now turning its attention to www.bopdhb.govt.nz, and are in the process

of completing the design for the site. Departments across the DHB are working on establishing who will be responsible for their content, and trained in how to use the content management system that is being put in place.

Thanks to all of you who have been involved with the research of the site, how the current site works and what you would like to see in a future site. Thanks must also go to our patients and stakeholders outside of the DHB who have taken the time to be involved, so we can ensure that what is being developed meets the needs of our community in delivering both better, sooner and more convenient healthcare and meeting our vision of healthy, thriving communities.

Travelling Fellowship to the USA

Cheryl focused on Cardiac Resynchronisation Therapy (CRT), which involves biventricular pacing via either a pacemaker or ICD to improve symptoms and cardiac function in patients with congestive heart failure.

“I wanted to bring back the latest ideas and consensus on optimizing therapy in this important group of patients. It was comforting to find our practice is up to date with the rest of the world and what I have learned will help us to fine-tune what we do,” said Cheryl.

Tracey and Cheryl said the knowledge they gained

is invaluable to the Pacemaker/ICD follow-up and implant service at Tauranga Hospital.“We will also get a chance to pass on what we have learnt to colleagues throughout New Zealand at a meeting sponsored by Medtronic in Auckland in July,” they said.

Tracey and Cheryl would like to thank their sponsors: Medtronic, Boston Scientific, St Jude Medical and Biotronik.

“Without their financial support we would not be able to attend international conferences such as this one,” they said.

The Boston Convention and Exhibition Center is the largest in the Northeast United States. It cost $850M to construct and has 47,940 sq meters of exhibitor space and another 14,864 sq meters of meeting rooms.

Cardiac Technologists Tracey Cumming and Cheryl Friedland were thrilled when both their applications for Travelling Fellowships to attend the Heart Rhythm Society Meeting in Boston, USA were successful.

“The fellowships are awarded by Heart Rhythm New Zealand and only four technologists from New Zealand are accepted each year,” said Tracey.

Tracey focused on sessions about Implantable Cardiac Defibrillator (ICD) leads, in particular leads which have been subject to an advisory or recall due to a higher than acceptable number of failures.

“ICD leads were a hot topic at the conference with hundreds of cardiologists, technologists and industry staff attending these meetings,” she said. “I learnt a lot about their mechanisms of failure, and most importantly from our perspective in the pacemaker clinic the ways we can obtain early detection of lead problems. There was a fantastic debate on whether failed ICD leads should be explanted or not due to the risk of harm.”

Farewell to a friend and colleagueAn invitation is extended to all staff to say goodbye to Chaplain Phil Scott.

To be held in the Puriri Room, Education Centre, Tauranga Hospital on Wednesday 4 July 2012 at 2.30pm.

Bay-wide immunisation campaign

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By Debbie Phillips, Toi Te Ora – Public Health Service Communications Officer

Toi Te Ora – Public Health Service launched a campaign at the start of June to remind parents and carers of the importance of immunising toddlers at 15 months. The campaign will run across the Bay of Plenty for 12 weeks and includes Facebook and radio adverts, articles in local newspapers and mobiles displayed in general practices and early childhood centres. The radio advert is a catchy tune and has local children singing the song. Listen out for it on local radio stations or visit www.toiteorapublichealth.govt.nz/15_months_immunisation to play the ad from the website. The 15 month immunisations help to keep

The Cardiac Rehabilitation Progamme at Whakatane Hospital is gaining a popular reputation, having just concluded an extra six week course to reduce some of the increasing waiting list.

Usually the programme meets on Thursday mornings for patients admitted to hospital with an ischaemic cardiac event (heart attack or angina). Whakatane Cardiac Specialty Nurse Ellie Enright, accompanied by a cardiac nurse colleague monitor the patients each week, ensuring patients are progressing with risk factor modification and addressing challenges along the path to recovery.

Physiotherapist Theresa Murphy leads an hour of exercising in the gym and walking through the hospital corridors – you may have dodged us on your way to morning tea. Over the six weeks we have a variety of speakers on topics including diet, medications, stress, anatomy and physiology of the heart, exercise, and lifestyle changes.

Rehab is shown in research to reduce mortality and reinfarction and improve quality of life.

Patient’s comments include: “It did me good, did not want to come at first but then I did enjoy it. Also good since you see other people with the same problem.” “The programme is great! Gives good information and encouragement on all levels.”

children safe from measles, mumps, rubella, haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) and pneumococcal disease.

“These infections can be severe on their own, and may also lead to serious complications, such as pneumonia, meningitis and encephalitis,” says Dr Jim Miller, Medical Officer of Health. Immunising toddlers at 15 months is particularly important as it is the first chance to protect them from measles, mumps and rubella. During late 2011, there was a nationwide outbreak of measles which affected the Bay of Plenty. While the threat of measles is now lower for our community, the recent outbreak shows that infectious diseases such as measles can affect people in our area.

Information on the 15 month vaccination event is available on the Toi Te Ora – Public Health Service website at www.toiteorapublichealth.govt.nz/15_months_immunisation or contact Communicable Disease Nurse Nicola Chadwick on 577 3762 or nicola.chadwick@bopdhb.govt.nz.

Communicable Disease Nurse Nicola Chadwick with the childhood immunisations mobiles at the reception area for Toi Te Ora – Public Health Service.

Popular rehab programme in WhakataneBy Rachel Hall, Cardiac Clinical Nurse Specialist

The Cardiac Rehabilitation Progamme at Whakatane Hospital is increasing in popularity with patients recommending it to friends and GP’s requesting patients attend. The course is run by Cardiac Clinical Nurse Specialist Rachel Hall (left), Physiotherapist Theresa Murphy (centre) and Cardiac Specialty Nurse Ellie Enright (right).

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Learnings from UK conference

I recently attended the 19th United Kingdom Continence Society (UKCS) Annual Scientific Meeting in Liverpool on behalf of the BOPDHB and was welcomed with a warm friendly smile by everyone I met.

St George’s Hall is part of Liverpool’s world heritage site which was overwhelming with its large stairwells and glass dome above. On entering the hall a violinist from Liverpool Symphony Orchestra was playing Beatle songs and other well know Liverpool artists. The first key speaker was Steve Binns MBE, a local historian who told a few yarns about the city.

The conference presented many key research papers highlighting that work within the UK and Europe is focusing on cures or better management for continence. The UKCS

encourages presentations across all disciplines and included papers on surgery techniques, medications, cost effectiveness and outcomes.

Overall many of the presentations focused on the surgery for stress incontinence and overactive bladder treatments. It was interesting to see the different outcomes presented proving research papers need to be critiqued carefully to obtain their value. This also stimulated some interesting debate between colleagues from urology and gynaecology.

The poster presentations were excellent and very inspiring. The poster on provision of services for patients who have undergone radical prostatectomy showed these patients are not accessing the service. It is important that our BOPDHB continence service strives to ensure we are supporting these patients to gain continence again and if not to provide the best management

By Cheryl Hammond – Clinical Nurse Specialist/Coordinator, Regional Continence Service

The DHB is embracing a culture of safety and a vision of providing consistently reliable care, thereby reducing the risk of injury and guaranteeing that every patient, every time, receives the benefits of care.

The half a day workshop called Delivering Better Patient Outcomes Through Improved Patient Safety, identified the challenges we have to deliver safe, timely and appropriate care to our patients. With the advances in medical technology, there is no longer just one way to deliver care to the patient. Whichever care path we choose for an individual patient, or a cohort of patients, we must ensure that we meet the needs of each patient. When patients receive high quality care, they have better outcomes, get better faster and most importantly, we reduce the incidence of serious (harm) events occurring.

Health Quality and Safety Commission’s Chief Executive Dr Janice Wilson and her colleagues General Manager Karen Orsborn and Director of Health Quality Evaluation Richard Hamblin joined the workshop and all three provided a timely insight into the national priorities for patient safety.

The workshop commenced with a presentation by our Chief Operating Officer Phillip Balmer, including a video about patient safety and the importance of robust and timely communication. The workshop then acknowledged our successes

DHB aims for zero harm

From left: Health Quality and Safety Commission’s Chief Executive Dr Janice Wilson, BOPDHB Quality and Patient Safety Manager Debbie Brown and BOPDHB Chief Operating Officer Phillip Balmer.

Presenters at the workshop included from left: Infectious Diseases Physician Kate Grimwade, Geriatrician Tony Blake and General Manager HQSC Karen Orsborn.

to date with reducing harm from falls, implementing the SBARR communication tool, reducing medication errors, and working towards eliminating surgical site infections and hospital acquired infections.

By Debbie Brown, Quality and Patient Safety Manager

A recent patient safety workshop identified priorities to enable us to achieve a zero harm system within the BOPDHB.

and outcome for their quality of life.

Other poster presentations consisted of patient satisfaction questionnaires for intermittent self catheterisation, continence and the older people in hospital and patient pathway for urinary incontinence. This focused on how common the condition is and how a multidisciplinary approach is essential for successful management. However, the outcome showed women see a number of professionals prior to referral, suggesting in primary care urinary incontinence has a low priority.

I wish to thank the DHB for supporting me to attend while I was in the UK and the support of the Florence Nightingale Memorial Fund from NZNO.

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Please bring along your Donor Card or photo ID,such as a drivers licence or similar.

Please make an appointment with Michelle Kirkif you are interested in donating. Call ext. 8500 or

email michelle.kirk@bopdhb.govt.nz.

Tauranga Hospital CollectThe New Zealand Blood Service will be

setting up a small collect at the Education Centre (889 Cameron Road) on

Monday 9th July from 9am to 12pmPlease bring along your Donor Card or photo ID, such as a

drivers licence or passport etc.Make sure you eat and drink plenty before donating.

Contribute to CheckupIf you would like to contribute articles to Checkup, or want to suggest a story, email Communications Advisor Rebecca Silvester via rebecca.silvester@bopdhb.govt.nz