Henny Edkins HCA reading out
her Ode to APU alongside Lynn
Hema CNM.
From left Kate Grimwade, Lynn Hema and
Henny Edkins cutting the ribbon to open the
Assessment Planning Unit.
Name change signifies commitment to
planning what’s right for the patient
Tauranga Hospital’s Admission Planning
Unit (APU) has been renamed Assessment
Planning Unit (APU).
The new Assessment Planning Unit configuration aims to provide
a much better all-round experience for patients, whānau, visitors
and staff.
Whilst the name change may be small the significance is not. The
change from Admission to Assessment underlines a commitment
to planning what’s right for the patient by focusing on early
assessment and decision-making for patients, and where possible
minimising admissions to hospital.
The official opening of the Assessment Planning Unit was held
earlier this month.
“The Interdisciplinary Team in APU has been developing its model
of care for patients to ensure we do not waste patient's time, by
reducing unnecessary waste and adopting new best practice ways
of working,” says Medical Leader - Medicine, ED, Health in Ageing
and Pharmacy Dr Kate Grimwade.
The introduction of an Ambulatory Emergency Care (AEC) area is
part of this developing model. The new front-of-house provides a
co-location space as well as providing additional ambulatory care
facilities for patients.
“This means more patients can be seen in an outpatient style
using a combination of chairs and consult rooms for assessment
and treatment,” says Kate. “This supports our focus on keeping
patients up, dressed and moving and ensuring time in hospital
is well spent by teams working together.
“Bed space 5 has been de-commissioned and turned into a co-
location space for the team. For a long time the administrators
have felt disconnected from the team in their current location
and this new space sees us working side by side.”
Healthcare Assistant Henny Edkins even put pen to paper,
especially for the occasion, and wrote an Ode to APU. The
poem reflected the journey of the staff in APU and their
commitment “to do the very best we can, and be the best
that we can be”.
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Manaaki
tanga