Dunedin’s Mercy Hospital wins two prestigious awards

Dunedin’s Mercy Hospital wins two prestigious industry awards

Dunedin’s Mercy Hospital has won two prestigious private hospital sector industry awards.

The Hospital’s Room Service entry won the non-clinical category of the NZ Private Surgical Hospitals Association’s (NZPSHA) Leaders in Quality 2018 awards.

The project was one of three finalists in the non-clinical category, with the judges lauding it as ‘a very innovative project for a healthcare organisation. Very patient and environmentally focussed’.

The Mercy Hospital project saw the introduction of New Zealand’s first al-la-carte, on demand room service menu for hospital patients.

It involved greater meal choices, any-time ordering between 7am and 7pm, an upmarket menu, enhanced plate presentation and a reduction in food wastage.

Patient feedback had been excellent, particularly in terms of ability to choose the food patients wanted and when they wanted it, both of which contributed to an improved hospital experience.

Mercy Hospital also won the awards’ clinical category for its efforts to successfully transition internationally-qualified nurses (IQN) into the New Zealand nursing environment.

This project Supporting the Transition of Internationally-qualified Nurses (IQNs) involved the planned delivery of a bespoke programme to support the transition of IQNs into the New Zealand healthcare environment. This involved working with both the IQNs and the existing workforce.

The training is critically important to supporting cultural diversity in a high-pressure working environment.

The Nursing Council of New Zealand reports that 25 percent of the nursing workforce is educated outside New Zealand and each year up to 40 percent of nurses added to the Register of Nurses have overseas qualifications.

The NZPSHA Leaders in Quality awards are presented bi-annually and recognise excellence across its 27 members spread across 39 private surgical facilities throughout New Zealand.

Lead judge for the 2018 event, Philippa Pringle, said the awards aim to showcase various quality initiatives across the sector.

“We want to recognise initiatives that lead to sector-wide learning and growth, that generate improved service and business delivery for our patients and that enhance the working environment for our staff.”

Ms Pringle said all of this year’s 21 award entries were impressive and showed the great work that is being undertaken by the private surgical hospitals sector.

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