Snapshots Show Excellent Older Persons Care
When Older Persons and Rehabilitation group manager Barbara Garbutt asked her team of people working in the service for
examples of care excellence, the response staggered her.
So much so, she put together Snapshots of Care Excellence, a 32-page report that shows the embedment of the service’s vision statement of “our community, your wellbeing, our
future” in day-to-day care.
“The report is full of good news stories but we also talk about how we need to improve in some areas, such as hand
hygiene,” she said.
“Often the little successes are lost in the day-to-day delivery of care. It is appropriate we take time out to recognise
the successes we have in delivering our services to the community….and doing it well most of the time.
“We’re providing inpatient and an outpatient services throughout the Waikato District Health Board which supports our
philosophy of right cares at the right time in the right place.”
While the new $40 million Older Persons and Rehabilitation Building in Pembroke St, Hamilton, which opened in June 2013,
comes in for praise, so too do the services out in the community.
“We’ve appointed Pat Gregory as a consumer representative for example who provides us with insight and advice. Thanks to
her input we are able to alleviate patient concerns and look for tangible solutions.”
The Supported Transfer and Accelerated Rehabilitation Team (START) has now been providing home-based rehabilitation
services for over 65 year olds since 2010. Last year it rolled out to cover all of the Waikato DHB catchment area.
“This has meant working in a model that includes linking with a wider team of allied health from the Rural and Community
teams and utilising external providers for the health care assistant component of the services,” said Mrs Garbutt.
The report also looks at the work done by Disability Support Link, Needs Assessment and Service Co-Ordination and staff
in Morrinsville and Te Awamutu at the Rhoda Read and Matariki continuing care facilities.
For Mrs Garbutt the highlights keep coming.
“I am so proud of everything my team is doing to improve the care for our patients. Personally, I am also thrilled we
have been able to establish the Institute of Healthy Ageing. To get chief science advisor Sir Peter Gluckman on board as
our patron shows how important it is to have a research framework for best clinical and management practice so that
healthy ageing is promoted and supported within the Waikato and Midland regions as well as nationally and
internationally,” she said.
The full report is available at www.waikatodhb.health.nz/opr