+UNDOCTORED Taranaki DHB celebrates health excellence in the region

+UNDOCTORED Taranaki DHB celebrates health excellence in the region

Taranaki DHB held its inaugural Employee Health Excellence Awards on Saturday night to 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.

 At the start of this year Taranaki DHB 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 Taranaki DHB staff, nominations were based on the organisation’s Te Ahu Taranaki DHB Values: whanaungatanga/partnership; manawanui/courage; mana motuhake/empowerment; mahakitanga/people matter; manaakitanga/safety.

  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. "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," Rosemary says.

 Taranaki DHB chairperson Cassandra Crowley had the honour of acknowledging award winners on the night and says it is a wonderful way to celebrate the DHB’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."

  Nominations were assessed by an expert panel of judges including representatives from nursing, doctors, clinical governance, consumer engagement, allied health professionals, and planning and funding.

  Taranaki DHB Employee Health Excellence Award winners for 2021:

  Hauora Hiranga / Clinical Excellence winner is… COVID-19 response planning It was a whole-of-hospital coordinated response - from ED, Department of Medicine, ICU and medical wards - rising to the challenge and threat of the pandemic overwhelming the hospital.

  Nga tino taonga me nga take / Innovative Systems & Processes award winner is… COVID-19 Dashboard Suite and reporting

  The overall business intelligence solution provided near real-time reporting and analysis to the COVID-19 Incident Management Team and became integral to its ability to maintain oversight of the ever-changing landscape of the local COVID-19 response.

 Te hiranga mana taurite me te ora / Excellence in Health Equity and Wellbeing award winner is… Taranaki Tau to moe This initiative is a sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI) prevention programme supported by Maternity and Te Pa Harakeke (Māori Health Team). It delivers improved education, information and support to whānau through the use of locally woven and sourced wahakura to support safe sleep risk-reduction and other health messages.

Roopu te ahu o te tau / Te Ahu Team of the Year award winner is… the Emergency Department (ED)

 Truly living and breathing Te Ahu Values, the ED team is a well-oiled machine working in partnership with other teams regardless of the high acuity and census. During the uncertainty of COVID-19 the team showed resiliency with the frequently changing approach to respiratory patients and prepared for the worst despite risks incurred by frontline health workers around the world.

  Te Ahu More tino taonga te tauira o te / Te Ahu MORE Award Person of the Year is… Dr Jonathan Albrett

  Truly living and breathing Te Ahu Values, Dr Jonathan Albrett’s leadership of the clinical upskilling programme significantly prepared 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 is fortunate to have a leader with such strong clinical skills as well as one who is caring, compassionate and insightful.

 EDITOR’S NOTES

  The Gala evening also provided a platform to launch the Taranaki Health Foundation’s ‘Love Our Kidneys’ fundraising campaign with a goal to raise $500,000 for enhancements to the new purpose-built, stand-alone renal unit. The money raised will be used for technology and equipment to enhance patient comfort, experience and quality of care in the renal unit, part of the Project Maunga Stage Two Taranaki Base Hospital redevelopment project.

  The TSB Community Trust also announced a $2 million donation towards Project Maunga Stage Two.

  Taranaki DHB Employee Health Excellence Award finalists 2021:

  Te Ahu Team of the Year:

  - COVID-19 Community Testing Team (incl. Public Health Nurses)

 - Emergency Department (Nursing/Medical/Allied/Administration/Non-Health support/Leaders)

 - Taranaki COVID-19 Incident Management Team.

 Innovative Systems & Processes:

  - Community Health Integration Team (CHIC)

  - COVID-19 Dashboard Suite & Reporting

  - Fit Testing.

  Health Equity & Wellbeing:

  - Flu Hui

 - Hapu Wananga

  - Health Equity Assessment

  - Taranaki Tau Te Moe.

  Clinical Excellence:

 - ART/ARTHA Inter-professional model of care

  - COVID-19 Response Planning

  - Upskilling Staff for Managing COVID-19 Patients.

  MORE Award Person of the Year Finalists:

  - Cameron Grant-Fargie (Nurse Manager / Nursing Directorate)

  - Dr Jonathan Albrett (HOD ICU - Clinical Lead Anaesthetics / Director of Clinical Training)

  - Erin Annabell (Clinical Lead - Physiotherapy inpatients / Physiotherapy Team)

  - Jean Hikaka (Pou Arataki Ratonga / Maori Health Services)

  - Lydia Rae (Manager Child & Maternal Health / Child & Maternal Health)

  - Maria McInerney (Population Health Analyst / Health Promotion Unit)

  - Robbie Williams (Nurse Educator / Emergency Department).