Tairawhiti Update December 2014 - the Bay of Plenty District Health

PROJECT UPDATE FOR INTERESTED PARTIES
26 November 2014
Introduction
As we work towards our goal of making video healthcare a sustainable daily
occurrence by 28 February, the focus of the past month has been east of the
Raukumaras. Ngati Porou Hauora, along with Tairawhiti District Health, have surged
forward, partly arising from their workshop on long term conditions at Te Puia on 29
October. Elsewhere there are several video outreach under way, and although these
are cautious starts on a small scale initially, the results are overwhelmingly positive.
“Video Outreach Clin ics ” Under Way Around East Cape
People with long term conditions in isolated East Cape communities are starting to
benefit from regular “Video Outreach Clinics” between Gisborne hospital and the six
isolated Ngati Porou clinics along the eastern side of East Cape. A joint initiative of
Ngati Porou Hauora and Tairawhiti District Health, the Clinics were given enthusiastic
endorsement by a workshop of more than 20 NPH GPs, nurses and support staff, and
TDH representatives, at Te Puia Springs Hospital recently.
Some of the Ngati Porou Hauora and Tairawhiti District Health team at the Long Term
Conditions workshop at Te Puia Springs hospital.
With all NPH clinics, many TDH departments, Hospice Tairawhiti, and the contracted
pharmacy all now video-capable, the stage was set. The clinics began this week.
Initially they involve diabetes consultations between specialists at Tui te Ora, the
hospital’s long term conditions unit, and patients at the NPH clinics at Tokomaru Bay
and Te Puia. Once proven, they are expected to expand rapidly to cover the full range
of long term conditions across the six rural NPH clinics which stretch north to
Ruatoria and Te Araroa.
Natasha Ashworth, Clinical Nurse Manager at Tui te
Ora, and Georgina Paerata, Acting Primary Health
Services Manager at Ngati Porou Hauora, have been
leading the initiative. Together they have developed
formal protocols for the new service, covering
operational elements such as the cases where video
is appropriate or otherwise, booking processes, staff
training, note-taking, etiquette, support for the
patient, and patient consent. TDH Planning and
Funding have been actively involved, while the
Telehealth Demonstration Project enabled the video
service and played a facilitation role.
Following Tui te Ora’s lead, other departments in Gisborne hospital are revising the way
they work with Coast patients to take advantage of the video capability. Mental health
clinics from Gisborne hospital are now happening routinely with patients at Te Puia,
while the Emergency Department is looking at ways to use video to support Coast
clinicians in emergencies. Each patient will be asked to complete a customer satisfaction
survey, and staff will be interviewed after 3 months, for review by the NPH Clinical Board
and Tui te Ora medical team.
How’s This for Kiwi Ingenuity?
So as to make it easy to video between Te
Puia Springs Hospital and various
departments of Gisborne Hospital, the
Ngati Porou Hauora team came up with
the idea of a mobile trolley with a video
camera that could quickly and easily be
taken anywhere in the wards.
Acting Primary Health Services Manager
Georgina Paerata gave the job to Executive
Assistant Ripeka Atkins. Ripeka located a
disused clinical trolley. The Project
contributed a camera, a pair of special
clamps, and a 5 metre extension lead. With a new PC and monitor, which was the only
major expense, and some bits and pieces from a hardware store, Ripeka delivered this
masterpiece at a very modest cost. WiFi connects the mobile unit to the NPH network
from where fibre optic connects the patient to the world. Top marks to all concerned.