Primary health care nursing innovation funding shortlist announced
FIFTEEN innovative nursing concepts have made the shortlist for the Ministry of Health's $7 million Primary Health Care
Nursing Innovations Funding.
The shortlisted nursing proposals - selected from 139 entries from a variety of health organisations and providers -
cover a broad geographical range of New Zealand and represent nurses in many primary care settings.
"We're very excited about the proposals. The focus for participants was to be innovative, to make a difference and think
of new ways that nurses in their communities can work collaboratively to address specific health needs," said Frances
Hughes, Ministry of Health Chief Advisor, Nursing.
Those shortlisted came from throughout the country including the West Coast, Reporoa, Otago and Northland, and
innovations were varied. "We saw excellent examples of collaboration across all entries so narrowing down the
applications was a difficult task," said Ms Hughes.
Teamwork was an essential part of the proposals. "There's fragmented nursing care in the Primary Health Care sector and
we wanted the proposals to address that by encouraging, for example, a Plunket nurse, a public health nurse and a Maori
nurse to work together on a community's child health scheme."
The $7 million available for the development of innovative nursing models is part of the Government's $400 million
allocation to implement the Primary Health Care Strategy, and improve and extend primary health care.
"The funding should also encourage nurses who work outside of hospitals to align themselves to the Primary Health Care
Strategy and Primary Health Organisations," said Ms Hughes.
They must now submit a more detailed proposal. Each successful proposal will be funded over a three-year period, and
must be sustainable by DHBs after the funding ends. Successful models are likely to be announced by the end of December.
The shortlist is:
Provider DHB Collective of Health Providers in Northland Northland DHB Combined Primary Health Care Nurses Group
MidCentral DHB First Taranaki & Royal NZ Plunket Society Taranaki DHB Hutt Valley Youth Health Service Hutt Valley DHB Kaupapa Maori Primary Health
Nursing Service Auckland DHB Otago Primary Nursing Leadership Team Otago DHB Primary Nursing Model Nurse-Led Service
Southland DHB Reporoa Community Health Community Lakes DHB Tairawhiti District Health Process Tairawhiti DHB Tuwharetoa
Health Services Ltd Lakes DHB Wellington Youth Service Project Capital and Coast DHB Neighbourhood Nurses in Reefton
West Coast DHB Kaipara Care Inc Northland DHB Wairarapa Primary Health Nurses Group Wairarapa DHB Counties-Manukau DHB
Counties-Manukau DHB
Primary Health Care Innovation Funding
Questions and Answers
What is a primary health care nurse? Registered nurses with expertise in primary health care practice. Primary health
care nurses work autonomously and collaboratively to promote, improve, maintain and restore health. Primary health care
nursing encompasses population health, health promotion, disease prevention, first point of contact care and disease
management across the lifespan. Partnership with people ? individuals, whanau, communities and populations, to achieve
the shared goal of health for all ? is central to primary health care nursing.
How many primary health care nurses work in New Zealand? In 2001, 7617 registered nurses said in their response to the
Nursing Council's workforce survey that their type of work or employment setting could include primary health care.
How much money is available in the nursing innovation funding? The total is $8.1 million (GST inclusive). Funding of up
to $7 million is available for the development of innovative nursing models. The Ministry of Health will retain up to
$1.1 m. This will be spent on evaluating the new models and to support nurses practising in primary health care settings
to undertake postgraduate nursing programmes in primary health care. This support will also help the development of
Primary Health Care nurse practitioners.
What will the funding be used for? Support the development of innovative models of primary health nursing practice to
deliver on the objectives of the Primary Health Care Strategy Allow for new models of nursing practice to develop and
reduce current fragmentation and duplication of services Assist in the transition of primary health care delivery to
Primary Health Organisations.
Who applied for the funding? Registrations of interest were invited from a variety of organisations and providers. This
involved joint arrangements across providers, including Primary Health Organisations, non-government organisations
(NGOs), academic institutions, DHB provider arms, Independent Practice Associations (IPAs) and others.
What information did organisations have to include when registering their interest? The name of the organisation(s)
seeking funding; Evidence that the organisation(s) meets the stated general criteria (see below); The geographical
boundaries (as well as the population groups) of the proposed service delivery; A description of the proposed new
primary health care nursing model and how it expects to change practice and promote collaboration and integration with
nursing groups, and other health professionals. Anticipated changes or benefits that will result from implementation of
the proposal. The three-year time period for which funding is required, ie, 2002/03 - 2004/05 or 2003/04-2005/06.
What general criteria had to be demonstrated by organisations seeking funding? They must have shown how they would: Help
in the delivery of the Primary Health Care Strategy; Work within a Primary Health Organisation environment Deliver on
the primary health care nursing framework and its vision and goals for primary health care nursing Develop a model that
reflects the service priority areas of the DHB or provider with regard to primary health care Support and consult with
key stakeholders from different service groups affected by the model Support and utilise effectively nursing leadership
Enhance collaboration between nurses and other health professionals; Enable the more effective use of existing primary
health care nurses by reducing fragmentation and duplication Involve nurses with knowledge and experience in primary
health care nursing Enable nurses to be seconded or released from current work settings if necessary to form teams or
work on projects, and provide the necessary organisational support.
What did DHBs do in this process? DHBs needed to support registrations of interest from providers as the providers were
likely to require reconfiguration or development of services which the DHB may be directly providing or funding via
contractual arrangement. Providers should approach the DHB during the developmental phase to clarify DHB expectations.
DHBs should inform all relevant providers and their provider arm services of this opportunity and also provide support
and advice to groups who are developing proposals.
What will the successful nursing models do? They will help to implement the Primary Health Care Strategy and could
focus on any of the population strategies that fall under the New Zealand Health Strategy. This includes: the Child
Health Strategy, Maori Health Strategy, Pacific Health and Disability Action Plan or Health of Older People Strategy.
What are the key Primary Health Strategy aims? The strategy places a high priority on addressing high health needs,
reducing inequalities in health status and supporting the development of Maori and Pacific providers.