Covid-19 has been at the forefront of many things recently, including an awards night where the region's response to it won numerous accolades.
Taranaki District Health Board (TDHB) held its inaugural Employee Health Excellence Awards earlier this month. The awards recognise outstanding initiatives which will make a difference to the experience and health outcomes of Taranaki patients, their whānau and the wider community.
The award winners were announced at the Taranaki Health Excellence Awards Gala event, hosted by the Taranaki Health Foundation on the Bowl of Brooklands stage on February 13.
At the start of this year TDHB employees were invited to nominate individuals, projects or initiatives delivering health excellence during 2020
The awards were open to everyone who provides a service or delivers care on behalf of Taranaki DHB, clinical and non-clinical.
Recognising the commitment of TDHB staff, nominations were based on the organisation's Te Ahu Taranaki DHB Values. These are partnership (whanaungatanga), courage (manawanui), empowerment (mana motuhake), people matter (mahakitanga) and safety (manaakitanga).
Taranaki DHB chief executive Rosemary Clements says there were a 'stellar' number of award entries and the judges were amazed at the variety of initiatives and projects.
Taranaki DHB chairwoman Cassandra Crowley acknowledged award winners on the night. She says it is a wonderful way to celebrate the TDHB's ongoing commitment to provide equitable, high quality health services delivered by a culturally competent and highly skilled workforce.
"We are immensely proud of our health workforce who has shown resilience and dedication in providing quality patient care during challenging times over the last year. These awards help to recognise the hard work that our health care professionals provide, always striving to improve health services and outcomes for the Taranaki community."
Nominati
Dr Jonathan Albrett won the Te Ahu MORE Award Person of the Year. Dr Jonathan Albrett's leadership of the clinical upskilling programme helped to prepare TDHB's workforce, both physically and mentally, when facing Covid-19. He has also been instrumental as clinical lead in the organisation's Sepsis ready programme.
Taranaki DHB Employee Health Excellence Award finalists 2021:
Te Ahu Team of the Year: Winner: Emergency Department (ED). Finalists: Covid-19 Community Testing Team and Taranaki Covid-19 Incident Management Team.
Innovative Systems and Processes: Winner: Covid-19 Dashboard Suite and reporting. Finalists: Community Health Integration Team and Fit Testing.
Health Equity & Wellbeing: Winner: Taranaki Tau to moe. Finalists: Flu Hui, Hapu Wananga, and Health Equity Assessment.
Clinical Excellence: Winner: Covid-19 Response Planning. Finalists: ART/ARTHA Inter-professional model of care and upskilling Staff for Managing Covid-19 Patients.
MORE Award Person of the Year: Winner: Dr Jonathan Albrett. Finalists: Cameron Grant-Fargie, Erin Annabell, Jean Hikaka, Lydia Rae, Maria McInerney, and Robbie Williams.
ons were assessed by an expert panel of judges including representatives from nursing, doctors, clinical governance, consumer engagement, allied health professionals, and planning and funding.
The region's response to Covid-19 won the Clinical Excellence and Innovative Systems and Processes awards.
"These awards are an inspiring exercise for us all. It's a truly humbling experience seeing the myriad examples our teams are working diligently on together to improve patient care."