Overview
News in brief
Emerging Tech in Health
BOPDHB Clinical Director for Informatics, Dr Matt Valentine
presented on digital clinical decision support systems and
artificial intelligence at the two day Emerging Tech in Health
symposium in Christchurch recently.
During the conference Matt had a pre-recorded interview with
Health Informatics New Zealand’s eHealthTV. You can watch it
here https://vimeo.com/338815426
Winter has well and truly arrived and with that, like the rest of
the country, we’re seeing a surge in winter illnesses and sick
patients in our hospitals.
Across the country, Influenza surveillance shows there is a
higher proportion of illness due to influenza viruses than usual
at this time of year. Over 50% of samples tested in GPs and
hospitals this year are influenza positive, which is one of the
highest positivity rates for this period in recent years.
I know many of you took the opportunity to have your free flu
shot at work. This year we had a record uptake of 70% and
across the country the uptake has been at near record levels.
While this is great, the downside is we now have a nationwide
limited influenza vaccine supply and have been advised
to prioritise supplies for those most at risk of serious
complications from the flu, namely:
•
•
•
•
pregnant women
people with severe asthma, heart disease, diabetes and
other serious health conditions that make them more
susceptible to influenza
those aged 65 and over
children aged 4 and under with serious respiratory illnesses.
Aside from having a flu shot, there are steps we can all take
to stay well and stop the spread of winter illness. On the back
cover there are some winter wellness tips which are really
important for all of us working in health.
The Board and the Exec team are all very aware of the
additional load on our teams during this very busy time of
year. Thank you for all your hard work and dedication. It is
recognised and very much appreciated.
This edition of Checkup also celebrates our people involved in
some great initiatives.
Judging from the front cover and photos here in Checkup,
it looks like our Tauranga ED staff organised some fantastic
workshops at the Australasian College for Emergency
Medicine (ACEM) winter symposium – well done!
I’m really pleased to hear there’s been a lot of interest from staff
keen to enrol in the free Te Reo Māori course (page 13). Recently
our Māori Health Strategy Te Toi Ahorangi 2030 was endorsed
by the Board. As a DHB, we want to see improved health and
wellbeing for mana whenua, including all Māori people and places
within Te Moana ā Toi. Preparations are underway for an official
launch, more details to come on OnePlace.
Ngā manaakitanga
Helen
2
Front cover: Emergency responders work hard to stabilise ‘the patient’ during an
injured hunter scenario in the Redwoods – part of the Australasian College for
Emergency Medicine (ACEM) winter symposium.
Do you really see me or just my
disability?
This booklet created by Quality and Patient Safety Coordinator
Cheryl Shearer which tells the stories of people living with
disabilities has gone global,
featuring on the Beryl Institute
online.
Do
The Beryl Institute is the global
community of practice dedicated
to improving the patient
experience through collaboration
and shared knowledge. The
booklet designed to improve
the way staff communicate with
patients living with disabilities
(tāngata whaikaha); first
featured in the February
edition of Checkup and is
featured on the Health Quality
Safety Commission website.
you
really see
me?
Or just m
y
disability.
..
Engaging
with patie
nts
with disab
ilities/tāng
ata whaik
aha
1
Dedicated Education Unit for
Tauranga Hospital Medical
wards
Earlier this month a Powhiri hosted by Maori Health Gains and
Development with whanaungatanga was held to launch the
DEU across the Kaupapa, 2B and 2C wards.
DEU is a collaborative learning and teaching framework
between education and clinical providers for nursing students in
clinical practice. It’s also operating in other parts of the hospital
and at Whakatāne Hospital.
18 second year nursing students from Toi-Ohomai Institute
Technology will be on clinical placement in the wards for eight
weeks.
Below: Toi Ohomai nursing students with Clinical Liaison Nurses Karen
Nicholas, Vivien Castleton and Michelle van der Vlerk.