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Snapshots Show Excellent Older Persons Care
Snapshots Show Excellent Older Persons Care
When Older Persons and Rehabilitation group manager Barbara Garbutt asked her team of people working in the service for examples of care excellence, the response staggered her.
So much so, she put together Snapshots of Care Excellence, a 32-page report that shows the embedment of the service’s vision statement of “our community, your wellbeing, our future” in day-to-day care.
“The report is full of good news stories but we also talk about how we need to improve in some areas, such as hand hygiene,” she said.
“Often the little successes are lost in the day-to-day delivery of care. It is appropriate we take time out to recognise the successes we have in delivering our services to the community….and doing it well most of the time.
“We’re providing inpatient and an outpatient services throughout the Waikato District Health Board which supports our philosophy of right cares at the right time in the right place.”
While the new $40 million Older Persons and Rehabilitation Building in Pembroke St, Hamilton, which opened in June 2013, comes in for praise, so too do the services out in the community.
“We’ve appointed Pat Gregory as a consumer representative for example who provides us with insight and advice. Thanks to her input we are able to alleviate patient concerns and look for tangible solutions.”
The Supported Transfer and Accelerated Rehabilitation Team (START) has now been providing home-based rehabilitation services for over 65 year olds since 2010. Last year it rolled out to cover all of the Waikato DHB catchment area.
“This has meant working in a model that includes linking with a wider team of allied health from the Rural and Community teams and utilising external providers for the health care assistant component of the services,” said Mrs Garbutt.
The report also looks at the work done by Disability Support Link, Needs Assessment and Service Co-Ordination and staff in Morrinsville and Te Awamutu at the Rhoda Read and Matariki continuing care facilities.
For Mrs Garbutt the highlights keep coming.
“I am so proud of everything my team is doing to improve the care for our patients. Personally, I am also thrilled we have been able to establish the Institute of Healthy Ageing. To get chief science advisor Sir Peter Gluckman on board as our patron shows how important it is to have a research framework for best clinical and management practice so that healthy ageing is promoted and supported within the Waikato and Midland regions as well as nationally and internationally,” she said.
The full report is available at www.waikatodhb.health.nz/opr
Waikato District Health Board
Healthy People. Excellent Care
Waikato District Health Board (DHB) employs over 6500 people and plans, funds and provides hospital and health services to more than 391,770 people in a region covering eight per cent of New Zealand.
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