Southern DHB Staff Recognised for Good Ideas

SOUTHERN DHB STAFF RECOGNISED FOR GOOD IDEAS

Southern Innovation Challenge awards $20,000

Southern DHB today (Wednesday 4 November 2015) announced the five winners of its 2015 Southern Innovation Challenge, including the Grand Winner.

A plan to produce a video with safe sleep messages for preschoolers from Southern DHB Well Child Service Coordinator, Sharon Ayto was the Grand Winner. The entry was awarded $10,000.00 towards the DVD development.

The four other winners were:

• Online Fire Training, from Kylie Machin (Building and Property), awarded $3,000

• Off Unit Tracking (OUT) Programme, from Bernie Thijssen (Ward 9A Forensic Seervices), awarded $2,000

• Breaking the Mold: Fracture Clinic Redesign in the Emergency Department, from Olivia Murray and Lara Gleeson (Emergency Department), awarded $4,000

• Falls stickers – generic falls sticker for post-operative hip and knee replacement, Maryanne Mulcahey, Beckie Baird, Ofelia Jackson, Elaine Godman (Ward 3C, Orthopaedic), awarded $45

This is the fourth year that the Southern Innovation Challenge has taken place and 12 innovative applications were presented to the judging panel.

Southern DHB Director of Performance, Cherie McConville said all the applications were of an extremely high level. “However the grand winner stood out as an innovative and new approach to a real problem by embedding good sleep safe messages to a young generation who are able to correctly show others how to safely put baby to bed,” she said.

“The judges were looking for ideas that align with Southern District Health Board’s strategic health plan and we certainly saw this in all the applications,” said Ms McConville.

Talking about her idea, Southern DHB Well Child Service Coordinator, Sharon Ayto said the preschool doll play safe sleep message inspiation came about when she was observing two preschoolers at play with their dolls. ‘The children extended a lot of care to their ‘babies’, this included enthusiatically putting them down to sleep in a pram while talking to the babies throughout. Then they proceeded to cover them completely with the multiple covers available’, said Ms Ayto.

‘Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy (SUDI) can occur when infants are sleeping in an unsafe sleep environment, many SUDI incidents can be prevented by ensuring each baby has a safe sleep. Safe sleep messages can be introduced to preschoolers in doll play thus creating a generation of individuals who have safe sleep practices as their norm’, said Ms Ayto.

The Southern Innovation Challenge was supported by Westpac Banking Corporation and Otago Polytechnic with this year’s total prize pool of $20,000.00.

The judging panel was; Lexie O’Shea (Executive Director of Patient Services), Leanne Samuel (Executive Director Nursing and Midwifery), Cherie McConville (Director of Performance), Peter Harris (Innovation Facilitator, Otago Polytechnic) and John Blaikie (Private Advisor, Westpac Banking Corporation).

ENDS

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