Winner Of Quality Award Announced

Winner Of Quality Award Announced

The Department of Ophthalmology at Christchurch Hospital has been named Supreme Award winner of the inaugural Quality & Innovation awards, sponsored by Canterbury District Health Board’s Quality & Patient Safety Council.

The winning project, “A Fast System for Reporting the FM 100-Hue Colour Vision Test, involved the development of an accurate and timesaving computerised scanning program for reporting the FM 100-hue colour vision test. The FM 100-hue test is recognised as one of the most useful clinical colour vision tests for acquired colour vision defects in optic nerve disease and diabetic retinopathy. The successful project team included Associate Professor Mark Elder, Dr David Goode, Dr Rudy Hidajat, Mr Ray Hidayat and Ms Jan McLay. The team received a trophy, a Certificate and $4,000.

Mary Gordon, the Executive Director of Nursing, speaking on behalf of the judges of the competition, said “We were extremely impressed with the high quality and standard of the project work. The hard work and enthusiasm of the project teams is applauded, as is the strong quality improvement focus evident in all of the projects which were submitted for this award.”

In presenting the award to the Ophthalmology team, Professor Peter Davis, Chair of the Quality & Patient Safety Council, said “the results of this particular innovation were impressive, resulting in considerable timesaving for colour vision testing. The team achieved this through the innovative use of technology, creating a user-friendly product which has the potential for commercial distribution both nationally and internationally.”

Jean O’Callaghan, the Chief Executive of Canterbury DHB commented “the projects have demonstrated excellent examples of improved outcomes for patients and the wider community. I have been very impressed with the creativity, professionalism and teamwork shown in all the projects. So many of the projects involved a wide range of health professionals engaging positively with their communities.”

The Quality & Patient Safety Council was set up in March 2003 to provide advice on quality issues to the Chief Executive of the Canterbury District Health Board. It also provides a forum for the wider DHB (community providers and operating division) to discuss quality issues, and thereby facilitate ongoing improvement in the quality of health delivered to the population served by the Canterbury DHB.

The Quality & Innovation awards were open to Canterbury District Health Board’s staff and funded community health providers. The judges looked for evidence of the benefit and impact of the improvement or innovation to the identified customer groups.

Ten finalists were selected from the entrants, and four were named as Award Winners. These winning projects, each receiving $2,000 and a Certificate, were:

Ashburton and Community Health Services: Pain Management Protocol. This project involved the development of a multidisciplinary, division-wide Pain Management Protocol. The protocol outlines the assessment of pain, administration and evaluation of analgesia and patient education. A diagnosis pain chart including a patient assessment chart and a pain-rating tool was been developed.

Burwood Hospital, Karen Marshall, Spinal Unit:: Bremer Haloä System, Establishing a Single Use Policy: This initiative involved the review and development of policies and procedures regarding the single use of the Bremer Halo external bracing system for patients with unstable cervical injuries.

Christchurch Hospital, Paediatric Department: Going to Hospital and Having an Operation at Christchurch Hospital Preparation Package: Through the development of a number of resources to help inform and prepare children who will be attending hospital for treatment, this project minimises the anxiety and increases children’s coping whilst in hospital.

Pegasus Health, Education Department: Laboratory Utilisation: A review was undertaken of the overall utilisation of the laboratory testing to identify new and changed trends and to improve the management of the laboratory budget resource. The key goal of the project was to bring utilisation of this resource back to target levels whilst supporting clinicians to practice within the framework of best practice.

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