BOPDHB Checkup February 2016 | Page 13

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