Primary care improvement case study: The Hutt Union and Community Health Service diabetes improvement project

The Hutt Union and Community Health Service undertook an ambitious project to reduce average blood glucose levels, as measured by HbA1c, in its low-decile and largely Pacific and Māori community. 

To help with this work, they formed a patient advisory group, Te Kete Hauora, which co-designed some of the changes made in the practice and undertook its own quality improvement work. Key achievements of the project were improving participation in the diabetes annual review, which rose from below 60 percent to above 70 percent, and reducing the average HbA1c in the patient cohort.