Good report for DHB as key targets exceeded

The latest update on the Ministry of Health's quarterly targets shows the Hawke's Bay District Health Board is performing above average in all six key areas.

The targets are a set of national performance measures designed to improve the performance of health services.

Hawke's Bay District Health Board (DHB) chief executive Kevin Snee said the board was happy with the results.

"The population health initiatives for immunisation, helping smokers to quit and diabetes and heart checks have all improved against the last quarter," Dr Snee said.

"Meeting these targets will help reduce health disparity and improve the overall wellbeing of the community as well as reduce hospital admissions."

Dr Snee said although all of the targets were important health priorities, the more hospital-focused targets (shorter stays in emergency departments; improved access to elective surgery; and shorter waits for cancer treatment) meant patients would face a shorter wait time for treatments.

"The emergency department target requires a whole of hospital approach to improve patient flow throughout the hospital with more effective and efficient admissions and discharges," Dr Snee said.

Working closely with primary health organisations (PHOs) and general practitioners (GPs) would help further improve the population health targets.

"Recently the board launched a 'Brothers' campaign, which is directly targeted at encouraging men to tell other men to get their hearts checked," Dr Snee said.

The board had also been working closer with GPs and PHOs to further reduce disparity and improve the health target results.

Introduced in the 2007 financial year, the targets are reviewed annually to align with government health priorities.

Nationally, four of the six health targets were met in the December quarter: improved access to elective surgery; shorter waits for cancer treatment; increased immunisation; better help for smokers to quit.

Shorter stays in emergency departments and more heart and diabetes checks targets were not met.

The target for shorter emergency department stays was for 95 per cent of patients to be admitted, discharged or transferred within six hours of arrival.

The national average was 93 per cent.

For heart and diabetes checks, the target was for 90 per cent of the eligible population to have had their cardiovascular risk assessed in the last five years.

The target is set to be achieved in stages by July 2014. The current stage is to achieve 75 per cent by July. No boards met the target in the previous quarter.

Health Minister Tony Ryall said although further work was needed to achieve the target, a 3per cent increase on the September quarter equated to more than 36,000 more people having their cardiovascular risk assessed.

For improved access to elective surgery, the target was for an increase in the volume of elective surgery by at least 4000 discharges nationwide annually. The target was beaten by 5per cent. Boards planned to deliver 74,799 discharges, and delivered 3932 more.

"This is a great achievement and means more New Zealanders are receiving the surgery they need faster," Mr Ryall said.

The target for shorter waits for cancer treatment was for all patients ready for treatment to wait fewer than four weeks for radiotherapy or chemotherapy.

All boards met the target.

The target for increased immunisation was for 85 per cent of 8-month-olds to have their primary course of immunisation on time by July, with the target increasing to 90 per cent by July 2014 and 95 per cent by December 2014. The national average was 89per cent in the last quarter.

The target for better help for smokers to quit was for 95 per cent of patients who smoked and were seen by a health practitioner in public hospitals, and 90 per cent of patients who smoke and were seen by a health practitioner in primary care, to be offered brief advice and support to quit smoking. And 95 per cent of boards met the target.

How Hawke's Bay DHB performed

Shorter stays in emergency departments

• Target: 95 per cent
• HB DHB: 94 per cent
• National average: 93 per cent

Improved access to elective surgery

• Target: 100 per cent
• HB DHB: 110 per cent
• National average: 105 per cent

Increased immunisation

• Target: 85 per cent
• HB DHB: 92 per cent
• National average: 89 per cent

Shorter waits for cancer treatment

• Target: 100 per cent
• HB DHB: 100 per cent
• National average: 100 per cent

Better help for smokers to quit

• Target: 95 per cent
• HB DHB: 100 per cent
• National average: 95 per cent

More heart and diabetes checks

• Target: 75 per cent
• HB DHB: 65 per cent
• National average: 55 per cent