Regional Women’s Health Service in good heart one year on
11 August 2014
The Regional Women’s Health Service (RWHS) developed and implemented by the Whanganui and MidCentral District Health
Boards has marked its first full year of operation with both boards agreeing that progress made to date has been
positive.
Regional Women’s Health Service Governance Group chair Tracey Schiebli, and MDHB operations director specialist
community & regional services Nicholas Glubb say during the past 12 months the focus has been on maintaining and strengthening
service delivery, building workforce capability and aligning systems, clinical policies and processes.
Of the 36 priority workstreams set for the first year of implementation of the RWHS, 22 are on track and implemented,
and 14 are estimated to be 90 percent implemented. All workstreams have moved from the pre-project state to the
implementation phase over the first 12 months of the service.
Ms Schiebli and Mr Glubb say as expected, overall patterns of patient flow, service delivery and resource use have not
changed markedly and medical staffing at both DHB sites continues to be managed well.
Following the resignation of a consultant at Wanganui Hospital the position has been filled by an internal short-term
locum appointment while recruitment for a permanent replacement continues. Similarly, a Palmerston North Hospital has
recruited a locum to cover a consultant on maternity leave until April 2015.
Hospital-employed midwives and lead maternity carers are working well together across the region.
Implementation planning and development for the National Maternity Clinical Information System (MCIS) continues at both
DHBs, with a go-live date expected once contract details have been finalised. The MCIS is a web-based application which
will provide clinicians access to patient information, discharge summaries, and other clinical documents like clinic
letters, operation records, laboratory results, and ultrasound scans.
MDHB and WDHB are early adopters of the system, along with Counties Manukau DHB.
ends