Innovation Alive and Well In the Health Sector

Innovation Alive and Well In the Health Sector

Despite enormous pressures, ongoing change and the demands of a critical public, evidence of remarkable innovation and the highest standards of quality in this country’s health sector are not hard to find, says Quality Health New Zealand’s newly appointed chief executive, Tineke Stokes.

Ms Stokes was saluting the finalists and winners of this year’s Health Innovation Awards, presented in Wellington this week.

Three winners were of particular note for Quality Health New Zealand:

Auckland National Women’s Hospital and the Liggins Institute, for their cooling cap, designed to protect the infant brain from evolving injury during the days after birth

Hauora Hokianga for project to provide safe drinking water supplies to 31 marae and two communities in the Hokianga region using a specially developed filter system.

MidCentral Health for their “Hospital in the Home” programme creating ‘virtual hospital wards’ that deliver care for patients – especially those at high risk of infection – in the privacy and comfort of their own homes

Ms Stokes said these were three among many impressive finalists and she said Quality Health was particularly proud that these three were part of Quality Health’s Accreditation Programme. Quality Health is New Zealand’s leading standards and performance assessment agency for health and disability services.

Ms Stokes said she applauded the Ministry of Health and the Accident Compensation Corporation for their work in supporting the Awards scheme.

“With so much of the publicity surrounding our health delivery services being negative, we should not lose sight of how much superb work is being done to produce this sort of innovation and quality.”

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