Hon Peter Dunne
Associate Minister of Health

24 November 2015

‘Clinical Hub’ pilot among St John Ambulance successes this year

Associate Minister of Health Peter Dunne says a funded pilot service in Auckland to screen 111 calls for urgency helped keep 6000 people out of hospital often by treating them at home or providing advice over the phone. The Clinical Hub pilot service in Auckland, which saw registered nurses and paramedics providing telephone assessments for less urgent 111 calls, is one of the initiatives reported in the organisation’s annual report.

“St John’s assessed most of those 6000 people as able to be given advice over the phone and treated at home. As well as providing callers with more appropriate care faster, ambulances and Auckland Emergency Departments were freed up to treat more urgent cases.

““The pilot continues to be funded while it is assessed for its wider applicability", Mr Dunne said.

The Annual Report includes highlights for the 2014/15 year - from response times to life threatening incidents, to St John's ongoing work in the community.

“Today’s report from St John shows the results achieved by its focus on constantly improving the quality and safety of the care it provides.

"In the last year St John has increased its frontline resourcing with 158 additional staff in 35 locations across New Zealand, jointly funded by government and St John. This has resulted in a significant improvement in response times, and more ambulances are now fully crewed.

“St John received 4% more ambulance 111 calls in 2014/15 but succeeded in dispatching ambulances to life threatening incidents 20% faster than in previous years.”

2014/15 has also seen St John make significant advances in its ICT infrastructure, in partnership with the Ministry of Health’s Information Group. The introduction of electronic patient report forms provides for secure transmission of patient information between ambulances and emergency departments and will allow further integration with primary care information systems in future years.

While embracing technology, St John continues its work on the ground with increased participation rates in programmes like St John in Schools and First Aid Training. An independent review of St John and Wellington Free Ambulance funding for ambulatory services is currently underway to help inform future financial support arrangements.

“Both St John and Wellington Free Ambulance provide quality ambulance services New Zealanders can feel proud of. Because of this, I am confident ambulance services will continue to serve New Zealanders well in the face of rising demands and resource constraints. The review will provide useful advice on the funding arrangements that would best support this”, Mr Dunne says.

ENDS

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