Wednesday 31 August 2005

Launch of Care Coordination Centre will improve community care
in Capital & Coast DHB district

An innovative approach to providing health services to people in their homes and in other community settings will swing into action from tomorrow (Thursday 1 September) in the Capital & Coast DHB district.

“The new approach will improve the way we deliver services in the community - in people’s homes, rest homes and other community settings,” C&C DHB chief executive Margot Mains says.

At the core of the new approach is a Care Coordination Centre (CCC) which is a single point of entry for everyone, no matter what home and community services they require.

Margot Mains says the CCC, which launches tomorrow, will make it easier to pull together and co-ordinate each patient’s home and community care needs, and to provide them with the appropriate mix of home based support, nursing, rehabilitation or other health services.

“For example, when patients are being discharged from hospital they often need several different follow-up services when they return home. The CCC will help ensure that those different services are well coordinated, and enable the best match of services for each person.

“At the same time we are improving our assessment processes for those needing care, and introducing better systems for managing patient information. This will enable the CCC to keep track of each person’s needs, and what care is being provided to them, to ensure those needs are being met.’

It’s a first-of-its-kind approach for New Zealand, and the model of care is already attracting a lot of interest from other DHBs.

“They are watching our new approach with interest,” Margot Mains says, “I believe the initiative is so good that other DHBs around New Zealand will pick it up and adapt it for use in their own regions,” Margot Mains says.

Benedict Hefford, the manager of Aged Care services for C&C DHB, says the CCC will also help to ensure that more people receive care before their known health problems cause a serious deterioration requiring hospitalisation.

“For example, an elderly woman who is becoming frail and having falls is at high risk of breaking their hip, and that’s a devastating injury for elderly people - 20% die within a year of a fractured hip. We want the CCC system to help us ensure that more people in that sort of situation receive services and support earlier,” Benedict Hefford says.

C&C DHB selected Nurse Maude Association to be the provider of the Care Coordination Centre.

“Nurse Maude is a highly reputable not-for-profit provider, which has been operating successfully for over 100 years. They have extensive experience of providing both home and community services, and run a care coordination service in Canterbury,” Benedict Hefford says.

Ingrid Thomas, Chief Executive of Nurse Maude Association says they are delighted to work with Capital & Coast in providing the CCC. “It demonstrates that our commitment to community health care, which is well known in Canterbury, is also well-known in other regions” Ms Thomas says.

C&C DHB’s Margot Mains says the launch of the CCC, and the other elements of the new approach to community care, will benefit everyone in this district, especially older people and adults with chronic illness.

“The Board of C&C DHB approved this new approach last year, following feedback from a public consultation. That feedback from the community was very positive, and reinforced that this is a change they want. This really is the start of a new way of providing care across the health continuum, and it’s a first for New Zealand, so we can be proud that C&C DHB is leading this approach,” Margot Mains says.

ENDS

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