Better Sooner More Convenient Primary Care - New Zealand Doctor

qualifications and skills. Where care can be delegated to a health assistant, this should happen,
provided the health assistant receives adequate support, supervision and training. This will then
free the health professional to provide the more complex care.
We will also design and implement common infrastructure systems and service specifications to
support a more integrated way of working.
Patients will benefit from GPs and practice/rural nurses being made aware immediately when one
of their patients is admitted to hospital (for example), and the district nurse and allied health
professionals can work with the GP & practice nurse on the plan for the patient's discharge
from the time of their admission to hospital. Patients will benefit when these two workforces
are utilizing the same clinical information system to record their interactions with, and care for,
the patient, and when all the health professionals involved in their care are giving them
consistent advice.
Patients will benefit when clinical nurse specialists and allied health professionals are available
to intervene earlier with patients with long term conditions, rather than being called in to
address the patient's needs only after a patient has been admitted to hospital.
Currently well child service provision is fragmented between Plunket, primary care, Māori health
NGO providers, midwives and community nursing services. The advent of IFHCs creates the
opportunity to bring these carers together, so that care is streamlined, information is shared
and families get the right level of follow-up. Initial discussions with NGO service providers
indicate a willingness to collaborate in order to achieve better health outcomes and better use
of resources. More detailed discussions and project planning will occur in year one of the
implementation phase.
Objectives:
to improve the care of patients with the greatest need on the health system
to make the most efficient use of the nursing and allied health resources available on
the Coast
to design and implement common infrastructure systems and service specifications to
support a more integrated way of working
provide leadership that is able to respond to the flexing/changing needs, and provides all
staff with feedback on performance
include staff in planning the delivery of services, complete a gap analysis asking staff
what is working/not working and implement these ideas in to working smarter/better use
of resources
review and develop nursing roles into a more holistic primary health nurse role aimed at
blurring existing boundaries between specific nurse functions, but one that contains
both generalist and special interest components.
Business case appendices V12 AC 25Feb2010 Page 55