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Review Of Governance Arrangements At Waikato DHB
Media Release
Date: 21 June 2007
Review Of Governance Arrangements At Waikato DHB
A comprehensive review of governance arrangements currently in place at Waikato District Health Board has been released to the organisation's 5340 staff.
The 70-page review, with its 36 recommendations, was presented to the board last week.
The review helps to answer two questions of importance to all staff, said board secretary Neville Hablous.
The first is how can the board know exactly what is happening deep within Health Waikato - the DHB's provider of hospital and health services - and secondly how to ensure that clinical and non-clinical staff work together for the good of patients.
The board resolved the draft document should go out for consultation to all staff and has provided $150,000 in direct funding, not including capital expenditure. Much of the work can be done within existing resources.
Acting chief executive Jerry Rickman said the document was "one of the most significant produced on the organisation and its present corporate and clinical governance arrangements".
Presentations were scheduled for the clinical board and to staff in Hamilton (20 and 26 June), Te Kuiti (21 June) and Thames (22 June) over the next week by Maureen Robinson of Communio, the company that completed the review. Also present will be Waikato DHB general manager health services Jan Adams and Mr Hablous. Staff from Taumarunui and Tokoroa were to be briefed in Te Kuiti today.
The purpose of the review was to undertake an assessment of the present corporate and clinical governance arrangements in the Waikato DHB and to establish the baseline against which improvement can be measured.
It also identified a better approach to corporate and clinical governance for the DHB and the key components of that system and provided a high level action plan for achieving this improved system and enhanced results that were consistent with Ministry of Health plans and objectives.
Ms Adams, who heads Health Waikato which has a total budget of $497 million this financial year and $526 million next year (starting July 1, 2007) and in excess of 3500 staff, welcomed the review saying it gave the organisation the ability to have more transparency.
"It gives us a heightened focus on quality throughout the organisation and prepares us well for any national initiatives," she said.
The terms of reference for the review were set after Malcolm Stamp started as chief executive on July 1 last year. He resigned in February to take up a newly-created health position in England as chief executive of a new London health provider agency serving 7.5 million people with a budget of NZ$39 billion.
"He came at it with his knowledge of the development of corporate and clinical governance in the UK and we found that useful," said Ms Adams.
Waikato District Health Board chief medical advisor Dr Pim Allen said in recent years internationally there had been more attention paid to clinical governance particularly following inquiries in Australia at Perth's King Edward Memorial Hospital and in the UK at Bristol Royal Infirmary.
King Edward Memorial, Western Australia's leading women's hospital, was under the spotlight for years over concerns about a high number of baby deaths and deformities. An inquiry was set up to investigate obstetric and gynaecological services at the hospital between 1990 and 2000. It resulted in more than 200 recommendations.
An inquiry between 1998 and 2001 into the care of children receiving complex cardiac surgery at Bristol Royal Infirmary also contained more than 200 recommendations.
Dr Allen said the governance review here meant Waikato DHB was on the front foot and putting resources into preventing what had happened internationally.
"The board is right to expect a safe and professional clinical environment across all its services," she said.
An executive summary of the review is attached.
ENDS
Waikato District Health Board
Healthy People. Excellent Care
Waikato District Health Board (DHB) employs over 6500 people and plans, funds and provides hospital and health services to more than 391,770 people in a region covering eight per cent of New Zealand.
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