Media release from Waitemata DHB

Waitemata DHB has continued its stratospheric rise in performance against the Government's national health targets.

Results for the fourth quarter of 2011/12 (April to June) released by the Ministry of Health today confirm that the DHB has achieved five of the six health targets, and is very close to achieving the new health target of more heart and diabetes checks.

As the only DHB to place in the top 8 (out of 20 DHBs) across all health targets for the quarter, chief executive officer Dr Dale Bramley says the results cap off another remarkable 12 months of growth for the DHB.

"The 2011/12 financial year saw the largest expansion of our facilities and services since the DHB first came into existence.

"Our overall performance against the health targets has also dramatically improved, with Waitemata achieving the emergency department, immunisation and quit smoking targets for the first time over the last 12 months."

The results augur well for the DHB's goal of being one of the best performing in the country.

"The potential that was always inherent within the organisation is now being realised," says Dr Bramley. "But it simply couldn't have been possible without the commitment and hard work of all our people."

Waitemata DHB's results for the fourth quarter are as below:

•    Shorter Stays in Emergency Departments - 97% (target 95%)
•    Improved Access to Elective Surgery - 108% (target 100%)
•    Shorter Waits for Cancer Treatment - 100% (target 100%)
•    Increased immunisation - 95% (target 95%)
•    Better help for smokers to quit - 97% (target 95%)
•    More heart and diabetes checks - 56% (target 60%)

Dr Bramley says the achievement of the immunisation target over the fourth quarter is a tremendous achievement for the DHB.

"We know that around 5% of people in our community prefer not to be immunised, so in getting 95% of our district's two year olds fully immunised, we've actually reached nearly every single child in our district.

"Our success in this area is in large part due to the support of the primary care sector, in particular the efforts of our district's two PHOs, ProCare and Waitemata."

In the elective surgery target, the DHB achieved 15,710 discharges for the 11/12 financial year - more than 900 discharges ahead of the yearly target of 14,771. The year on year increase in surgical production meant that the DHB delivered one quarter of all new elective volumes across New Zealand over the last financial year.

"The substantial improvements in our performance reflects the commitment we have made to strive for excellence in all the health services we provide our communities," says Dr Bramley.

Health targets were initiated by the Ministry of Health as a set of national performance measures designed to improve health services across New Zealand.  Introduced to the New Zealand health system in 2007/08, health targets are reviewed annually to determine trends, gaps and success factors - and to ensure they align with government health priorities.

Ranking of DHBs' performance is part of the ministry's quarterly health reporting process.  The results are publicly available at http://www.health.govt.nz/