West Coast DHB continues to improve on health targets

November 26, 2013

West Coast District Health Board continues to improve on national health targets

The West Coast District Health Board continues to improve its performance in several of the national health targets, while meeting or maintaining its position in others.

The six targets measured across all DHBs are Shorter stays in Emergency Departments; Improved access to Elective Surgery; Shorter waits for Cancer Treatment; Increased Immunisation; Better help for Smokers to Quit and Better Diabetes and Cardiovascular Services.

Chief Executive David Meates has praised the efforts made by the Emergency Department, which have seen it consistently top the country’s 20 DHBs for Shorter Stays in Emergency Departments.

The DHB also achieved 100 percent of the target for Improved access to Elective Surgery and Shorter waits for Cancer Treatment.

For the second quarter in a row the DHB has improved the percentage of hospitalised patients who have been helped to quit smoking and the number of people having heart and diabetes checks.

Mr Meates says the results reflect the impact that several initiatives are starting to have.

“We continue to focus on data capture, feedback and training, and in primary care we are improving our follow-up on eligible patients through nurse-led clinics and targeting high-need populations. We are developing an action plan with primary health organisations so we can build on the work already being done on smoke-free programmes and encouraging people to have regular heart and diabetes checks,” he says.

While the West Coast struggled to meet the immunisation health target, which is now 90 percent of eight month olds being fully immunised, Medical Officer of Health and Chair of the Immunisation Advisory Group, Dr Cheryl Brunton says health professionals are working hard to address this issue.

“Only 102 children turned eight months in this quarter and of those 87 were fully immunised, which reflects 85 percent of the national target. The others we struggle to reach because their parents have made a conscious decision not to vaccinate their children.”

Dr Brunton says the DHB has a target to reach 100 percent of children, which means either vaccinating the child or getting the family to formally decline vaccinations, or opt-off the register.

The Health Target table can be accessed at http://www.westcoastdhb.org.nz/publications/perfAgainstHealthTargets.asp

In Quarter 1, West Coast has:

§ Achieved 100 percent of the year-to-date Improved access to Elective Surgery.

§ Topped the Shorter stays in Emergency Department with 100 percent of people admitted or discharged within six hours.

§ Improved numbers for the Better help for Smokers to Quit with 58 percent of hospitalised smokers having received help and advice to quit.

§ Achieved the Shorter waits for Cancer Treatment with 100 percent of patients ready for radiotherapy or chemotherapy beginning treatment within 4 weeks.

§ Increased performance against the More Heart and Diabetes Checks to 64 percent of the eligible population having had their cardiovascular risk assessed.

§ Failed to achieve the immunisation health target with only 85 percent of eight-month-olds fully immunised (the new national target is 90 percent).

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