Conference to focus on high performing health care

Conference to focus on high performing health care

25 March 2015

A conference being run by the MidCentral District Health Board (MDHB) and Central Primary Health Organisation (CPHO) in May will feature international speakers, and focus on how to develop a high performing health care system.

The conference, on 7 and 8 May, will feature four world renowned keynote speakers from Canada and Scotland as well as local speakers from MDHB. It will also be preceded by two one-day seminars.

Seminar one on 5 May will be facilitated by the Associate Medical Director of Scotland’s Forth Valley National Health Service Dr Stuart Cumming, who will talk about of developing integrated health care systems. He will be followed by Professor June Andrews, the Director of the Dementia Services Development Centre at the University of Stirling. Professor Andrews will lead the seminar through ways to improve the care of those with dementia.

Seminar two, on 6 May will be facilitated by two Canadian speakers. Dr G. Ross Baker, a professor at the University of Toronto’s Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, along with Dr Joshua Tepper, the President and CEO of Health Quality Ontario, will lead the seminar through the process of becoming a high performing health care system.

The conference itself will feature all four of these international experts, along with keynote speeches from MDHB staff; General Manager, MidCentral Health Mike Grant, and Clinical Nurse Specialist (Lead), Primary Health Care Debbie Davies. It will focus on the themes of child health, health of older people, partnering with communities, and long-term conditions.

Mr Grant has been heavily involved in the work to push the MidCentral district toward being a high performing health care system, and he is looking forward to sharing this experience with others.

He said: “For the past several years, MidCentral DHB has been focused on providing better, sooner, more convenient care to our communities. This has resulted in a lot of interaction between the DHB and Central PHO, as well as other primary health organisations. We believe that integration is the future of health care, and helping people be looked after in the community, where possible, is a better model going forward. I highly recommend anyone who shares this vision, or wants to know more about it to attend this conference and hear from our fantastic line-up of international and local speakers.”

CPHO’s Chief Executive Officer Chiquita Hansen has seen this integration from the primary care side of the equation, but is equally impressed with what has been achieved.

She said: “Working closer with the DHB has definitely shown benefits for patients and both organisations. Patients are finding that more of their conditions are being treated and effectively managed within the community. This saves them a trip to the hospital, reduces the load on secondary services, and adds value to what we are doing in primary care. The speakers we have at this conference are experts in their field and we look forward to welcoming them to the MidCentral district.”

The seminars will be run on 5 May and 6 May, with the conference on 7 -8 May. All sessions will be held at the Palmerston North Convention Centre, Main Street, Palmerston North. Early bird tickets are available for those who book before 1 April. For bookings and more information on the conference go to www.midcentraldhb.govt.nz/hphcc

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