Sharing the knowledge on speeding up EDs

A new Ministry of Health booklet on the Emergency Department (ED) health target will help inform hospital teams on ideas to achieve shorter waiting times for ED patients. While visiting Waikato DHB's new ED this afternoon, Health Minister Tony Ryall said, "The booklet provides insights into the different ways that EDs around the country have improved their performance. It's part of "sharing the knowledge" about how to improve services for patients. The health target is that 95 per cent of patients are admitted, discharged or transferred from ED within six hours. "When the government came to office, it wasn't unusual for patients to languish for days on trolleys in EDs. "The ED is the barometer of how a whole hospital is working. For the ED to work efficiently, different parts of a hospital have to function cohesively. For example, it means there's a bed available in a ward if a patient needs admitting, and that radiology demands are being managed so people aren't waiting too long for x-rays.

Health Minister Tony Ryall

EDs will manage their issues in different ways, and this showcases some of the innovative approaches that have been successful. These include: A Rapid Round initiative at Auckland Hawke's Bay's CEO Daily Dashboard that identifies problem areas and a fix Working with health professionals outside the hospital system in Canterbury and South Canterbury Capital and Coast noting a particular group of patients were often the ones waiting longest in the ED A new minor injuries clinic at Hutt Counties-Manukau's successful all-of-staff approach. "The target is all about getting better services and quality of care for patients, and emergency departments are seeing more patients, more quickly, Mr Ryall said. A copy of the booklet is available online at www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/indexmh/targeting-emergencies Visit our gallery to view the photographs from Minister Tony Ryall's visit. View the Ministerial visit to Waikato DHB video. ENDS Date: 17 March 2011 Media contact: Antony Byers 021 241 7449 or 04 817 9648

The Minister with anaesthetics clinical unit leader Dr Cam Buchanan. The Minister with ED nurse manager Jenni Yeates and Rosemary Ryan, associate clinical nurse manager seeing on screen that no-one is in the black e.g. waited more than six hours.