Excellent result for West Coast national health targets

Media Release 1 September 2011

Excellent result for West Coast meeting national health targets

“West Coast residents are receiving very good service from their DHB in the latest health target results released yesterday,” says DHB CEO David Meates.

The six health targets are national health performance measures, set by the Ministry of Health. They are designed to improve the performance of health services and provide a focus for action for DHBs.

The West Coast continues to lead the country’s 20 DHBs with its performance in the Shorter stays in Emergency Departments target.

This target measures the way in which the hospital system can process the subsequent patient admissions and discharges as well as the time taken for patients to be seen in the Emergency Department.

“Elective surgery procedures exceeded the annual Improved Access to Elective Surgery target by seven percent. Given that there was also a recorded increase of more than 20% in acute surgery this result is a tremendous achievement for West Coast residents”, David Meates says.

“The DHB performance in the Increased Immunisation target has improved although is still short of the national target. Further analysis of the figures indicates that 97% of eligible two-year olds living on the West Coast (that have not declined or opted off the National Immunisation Register) have been immunised – this is a great result. The West Coast continues to have a significant number of young children who are not immunised because of the wishes of their parents.

“Over the past few years we have put significant effort into determining the smoking status of DHB patients and offering them assistance to quit. For part of this quarter the DHB was without a smokefree coordinator, resulting in a decrease in the number of smokers given cessation advice. Now the position has been filled there will be a renewed emphasis on ensuring smokers are given advice on how to quit.

“The Better Diabetes and Cardiovascular Services target has declined slightly. More patients were seen by primary practices however still further patients have been identified as requiring diabetes management. Diabetes patients are encouraged to take up their free annual diabetes check-up to ensure good management of their condition.

“The four-week target, in Shorter waits for Cancer Treatment was achieved for all patients. Radiation treatment for West Coast cancer patients is normally carried out in Christchurch.

“The dedication of health professionals on the West Coast makes a significant contribution to improving the health status of people living here,” says Dr Paul McCormack, Chair of the West Coast DHB.
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