Congratulations to all the 2019 primary care quality improvement facilitator programme graduates

Congratulations to the 17 representatives who work in primary care throughout Aotearoa New Zealand and completed this year’s Health Quality & Safety Commission primary care quality improvement facilitator (PC QIF) programme, graduating at the QIF celebration event held on Tuesday 26 November 2019 at Ko Awatea.

Led by the team at Ko Awatea, the centre for health system innovation and improvement at Counties Manukau Health, the participants undertook the QIF programme to learn about quality improvement methodologies and tools to implement in their workplaces to improve quality and safety in primary care.

Attendees who completed the programme are from a wide range of roles in primary care including pharmacists, nurses and practice managers who work in GP practices, pharmacies and Māori/iwi health organisations. Many of these projects were also involved in the Commission’s Whakakotahi primary care quality improvement programme. The course facilitators included Suzanne Proudfoot, Alison Howitt and Lynne Maher from Ko Awatea, and Jane Cullen from the Commission.

The programme covered a range of topics from process mapping and Ishikawa cause and effect diagrams to plan–do–study–act (PDSA) tests of change, run charts and data analysis. Each participant then applied the knowledge learnt to a quality improvement project of their choice.

The participants who were also involved in the Whakakotahi programme worked on projects which were selected to address equity, integration and consumer engagement. Projects ranged from gout and diabetes management for Māori and Pacific peoples, to improving access to medicines for those in a remote rural setting, to addressing appropriate physical health checks for consumers who are on an opioid substitution therapy (OST) programme through their community pharmacy.

The celebration event was attended by Karen Orsborn, deputy chief executive and director health quality learning and improvement of the Health Quality & Safety Commission, with guest presentations from Dr Lynne Maher and Dr Jim Vause.

GP Dr Jim Vause

The following participants presented their projects:

Jessica Sandbrook, TAS

‘Effective transfer of care from lead maternity carer (LMC) to Well Child Tamariki Ora (WCTO)’

Jessica Sandbrook

James Westbury and Reuben Teo, Westbury Pharmacy

‘Improving quality of life in Māori patients with poorly managed gout registered at Hora te Pai Health Centre in the Kāpiti Coast’

L–R: James Westbury and Reuben Teo, Westbury Pharmacy

Michelle Madgwick, South City Health

‘Improving eczema awareness, management and support to patients and whānau’

South City Health Eczema Improvement Team, L–R: Sponsor – Teresa Waitere, project lead – Michelle Madgwick, registered nurse lead – Melissa Castillo, GP lead – Dr Kate Sinclair

Improvement project storyboard awards were presented to:

Charts and data - Kiritahanga Savage and team from Te Whānau ā Apanui, Te Kaha

Best use of tools – Chenoa Walker, Pegasus

Improvement project storyboard award for best use of tools

People's Choice Award – Mele Vaka and Deepika Sonia, Tongan Health Society