Clinical Director of Innovation and
Improvement Dr Joe Bourne discusses
service improvement
The BOPDHB is excited about the future with a recent reorganisation resulting in the appointment
of Dr Joe Bourne (formally GP Liaison) into the role of Clinical Director Innovation and
Improvement. Reporting to Joe will be three 0.3 FTE GP Liaison appointments. This team reports
to our Medical Director and will work closely with SIU, fulfil GP Liaison functions and provide
clinical advice to Planning & Funding.
Dr Joe Bourne, Clinical Director of
Innovation and Improvement and
General Practitioner at Nga Kakano
Foundation answers our questions.
How did you become
involved in Service
Improvement and what is
your current role?
During the past 18 months the General
Practice Liaison role has worked
increasingly closely with the SIU to the
point where it has been incorporated
into the team. As General Practice
Liaison I was contacted by clinicians regarding problems affecting
the care of individual patients. By working with the unit the remit
of the General Practice Liaison role went from helping, to sorting
out problems for individual patients, to identifying opportunities
to improve systems for all patients. My new role will allow me to
devote even more time to seek innovative ways to improve the
quality of services for the whole population of the BOPDHB.
Why is Service Improvement important
for everyone?
I have not come across anyone who does not want to improve the
job that they do in some way. The motivations for this can be selfserving, e.g. if I work smarter I can go home earlier, but more often
they relate from a desire to do better for the people we serve. With
increasing public expectations, challenges as well as opportunities
created by new technologies and treatments, and the reality of
limited resources, we need to be constantly looking for ways of
improving the way that we work.
While the BOPDHB board
and executive can provide
an environment that
encourages continuous
quality improvement,
we need all staff to feel
empowered to make
positive changes within
their work place. In addition, many healthcare organisations are
including patients in the design of services, and this has been
shown to bring significant benefits.
Many healthcare
organisations are
including patients in the
design of services, and
this has been shown to
bring significant benefits.
What gives you satisfaction in your role?
I think that the key to my new role will not be my ability to make
change myself but to facilitate others to do so. I have enjoyed
working with junior doctors on the Quality Improvement Residency
during the past 12-months; it has been amazing to see their
growth. I will be hugely satisfied when we have a local health
system in which all staff and patients feel that they have a role in
improving services, and that when they have a good idea they are
supported to develop and implement that idea.
What are some of our immediate and future
challenges?
The SIU has developed enormously in the past few years from a
team that worked fairly independently on specific projects to one
with a far greater emphasis on enabling others. It has continued
to be very hospital focused though