Hon Dr Jonathan Coleman
Minister of Health
10 August 2017
New ED Target Champions Appointed
Health Minister Dr Jonathan Coleman says the appointment of two healthcare experts as target champions for Shorter Stays
in Emergency Departments (ED) will help further improve the flow of patients.
“DHB’s around the country are making good progress towards the health target of Shorter Stays in EDs,” says Dr Coleman.
“Most recent data shows that almost 94 per cent of patients were admitted, discharged or transferred from an ED within
six hours which is close to the national target of 95 per cent.
“The target is a measure of the efficiency of flow of acute (urgent) patients through public hospitals.
“It takes a whole of healthcare system approach to reduce stays in EDs, including home and primary care to ensure people
can live well with long-term conditions. For older people especially it is important to enable high quality care for
effective rehabilitation and recovery after acute events.
“The appointment of the new target champion, Dr Peter Jones, and the Acute Service Improvement Advisor, Carol Limber,
will help support the sector to better manage acute demand and improve further on the target.
“I welcome Peter and Carol to their new roles. They bring diversity from across the health system and extensive real
life experiences in healthcare.”
Dr Peter Jones an Auckland City Hospital Emergency medicine specialist, has been appointed as Shorter Stays in EDs
Target Champion. He is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine with the Department of Surgery at the University of
Auckland and has a longstanding research interest in healthcare targets.
Carol Limber, currently the Service Improvement Lead at Canterbury DHB and the System Improvement Advisor at Bay of
Plenty and Northland DHB’s has been appointed to the newly created position of Acute Service Improvement Advisor. She
has 30 years of clinical, operational and leadership experience in healthcare.
ENDS