Westcoast DHB Successful Public Meetings

13 April 2012

Successful Public Meetings

During the second half of March, DHB Chief Medical Officer Dr Carol Atmore led a series of advertised public meetings up and down the West Coast on the future direction of the health system on the West Coast.

Dr Atmore spoke of a single, people-centred, integrated and viable health system that would support West Coasters to be well.

There were six key things that she said would enable this:

• Health care home – an Integrated Family Health Care Service with teams of nurses and doctors; and other healthcare professionals working together in new ways
• Trans-alpine services – giving better access and shorter waiting times with most services on the Coast, supported by teams from Canterbury
• One door for complex care - complex / long term care managed together with improved assessment by multidisciplinary teams
• Integration of information - timely sharing of accurate information among members of the health care team avoiding repetitive questioning
• Transport – better transport options for health care within the Coast and to and from Christchurch
• Workforce - strong core of generalist skills supported by specialists with stronger linkages within the health system on the West Coast and with Canterbury

There was acceptance of the need for the West Coast health system to live within its means and some valuable feedback about the issues that local communities considered important was received.

Some of the key issues raised included
• Transport - within the Coast and to and from other centres
• General Practice issues
• Variety and provision of Hospital services
• Planning for the discharge of patients from hospital and follow-up care
• The use and limits of technology on the West Coast
• Avoiding the duplication of health services

Continued public input into the process will be maintained through the development of a new model of care for the West Coast health system.

People that missed Dr Atmore’s presentation can see it on www.westcoastdhb.org.nz

ENDS

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