Page 3882 - Week 10 - Thursday, 20 September 2018
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university have said the new building will enable the growth of the Christchurch campus’s health science research and education program and provide new opportunities for collaboration with other important partners in the health precinct. I really look forward to seeing this project develop and to continuing to build these relationships with CDHB and the University of Otago.
We were also very pleased to visit the exciting design lab facility, which is focused on rethinking how health services are provided. The design lab has been used to mock up a new concept for health infrastructure. The work currently being undertaken in the design lab is underpinned by extensive research. This was evident as we toured the facility and engaged with the policy leaders.
The design lab is a hive of activity, with clinical staff, policymakers and healthcare leaders, both national and international, visiting the facility to take advantage of the opportunity for the “disruptive” thinking opportunities that the lab offers. They demonstrated impressive improvements in patient outcomes and clinical service delivery through the design lab. We are keen to learn much more from the Canterbury District Health Board about these impressive achievements, recognised internationally as world-leading health system reform.
This is particularly welcome given the extensive health infrastructure planning that the government has committed to here in the ACT, and a very timely opportunity to consider the opportunities and alternative approaches to health infrastructure policy, planning and outcomes.
On the final day of the tour, at the design lab we also met with officials from Canterbury health to discuss HealthPathways. HealthPathways is an online manual which is used by clinicians to help make assessment, management and specialist request decisions for over 550 health conditions. Each pathway is an agreement between primary and specialist services on how patients with particular conditions will be managed in a local context.
I can advise that over 40 HealthPathways are being implemented in Australia, and ACT Health is actively engaged in progressing this work. In addition more than 50 primary care and hospital care organisations have formed partnerships, which enables them to share knowledge, processes, pathways and infrastructure. As a result, the demand on acute and residential care services is reduced, as patients are being better managed in their community and in their homes. We were pleased this year to continue to support the Capital Health Network to lead the rollout of HealthPathways here in the ACT’s primary care sector, and we look forward to continuing to roll out more HealthPathways within ACT Health and particularly within Canberra Hospital.
I am pleased to have had the opportunity to explore the way the New Zealand health system operates—how it is making significant achievements and how it approaches the challenges of running a modern healthcare system. There is clearly more we can do in the ACT to make the most of HealthPathways and maximise their use here in the ACT health system. The ACT has taken away strong and innovative ideas of great relevance to us, which ultimately sets the scene for opportunities to provide the best possible health care and research collaboration in the ACT.
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