The heart of the Swap2win campaign is to spread simple messages to motivate Counties Manukau families toward healthier lifestyles by making small but practical changes in their daily diet and physical activity levels.

Entrants of the Be in 2 Win competition submitted their own tip or advice on how to achieve a more active lifestyle or how to have a healthier diet this summer and replied via post or email to the Swap2win site (www.swap2win.co.nz).

The competition ran as a pilot to evaluate the understanding of the Swap2Win messages on the Counties Manukau audience and whether these messages were taken on board to help people make changes for improved Heath and well-being. Responses from the entrants showed a good grasp and uptake of the key themes advertised in the Swap2win campaign and indicated a great start to the overall campaign.

Out of the more than 200 entries, eight winners were randomly selected from the entrant pool. They walked away with a bonanza of healthy food and sports gear including Push Play activities from Counties Manukau Sport,

Community Gym vouchers from Manukau Leisure Services, a copy of the Kai Lelei Recipes for Large Families cookbook.

Healthy lifestyle messages getting throughThe Swap2win campaign for Let’s Beat Diabetes ended the year with the Be In 2 Win pre-Christmas promotion, a competition open to all residents of Franklin, Papakura and Manukau district.

Above: Carol Wildermoth from Let’s Beat Diabetes programme, Counties Manukau District Health Board present the Swap2win prize pack to Dannemor resident Suman Prasad and family. Suman’s healthy tip was to steam vegetables for her family rather than frying them in oil.

Left: Nancy Kukutai and family receive the Swap2win prize packs from Tony Kake, Community Liaison Manager for the Let’s Beat Diabetes Programme.

The campaign has profiled four Counties Manukau groups to spread their simple but inspirational stories to stop obesity. These are: • Takanini School Community: swapping 2

water• Mangere Methodist Church: swapping 2

smaller portion sizes

• Franklin Marae: swapping 2 light blue milk• Local shoe manufacturer Kumfs: swapping 2

physically active lunch breaks.The campaign has been actively promoted

through local media via bus-back advertising, radio and community newspapers.

The Let’s Beat Diabetes “Swap2win” campaign was launched last June to counter the serious issue of obesity

FEBRUARY 2008

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Welcome everyone to 2008 and the first Connect of the

year. Already January and February have been very busy months.

Firstly, I would like to extend a warm welcome to our new Board. We have a much stronger Pacific presence this time round as well as an Asian representative and I believe that this give us a good match of Board member representation to that of our community’s diversity. Our new Chairman, Professor Gregor Coster and I are taking familiarisation tours regularly on Friday afternoons and I look forward to continuing to meet more of you as you go about your daily work.

During my time here I have been hugely impressed with the professionalism of staff performing under pressures particularly

due to workforce shortages. This year, addressing these shortages is an absolute priority for management and we will be doing all we can to ensure that we have the workforce we need in the future to give you the support you need to do your job well.

The new ICU is on target to be completed in June. The walls are up, the painting has been done and staff are now about to start on clinical fit-out. We look forward to being able to treat our sickest people in an environment which supports our staff to provide the best care possible.

Partnerships which assist us in making a difference to health outcomes for a population with our characteristics (large, fast-growing, young, poor, ethnically diverse) is a considerable challenge, and one that the health sector cannot successfully undertake on its own. We must address the determinants of health (housing, employment, education and access to health care) in partnership with the agencies who

are in the best position to influence them One of the most rewarding partnerships we have is with local government. CMDHB and its predecessors have long had effective relationships with our three councils (Manukau, Papakura and Franklin). This collaboration has occurred under the ‘umbrella’ of Tomorrow’s Manukau and current joint initiatives include supported housing for older people, community physical activity and urban redesign, while planning is underway for a major joint agency project in Wiri. We look forward to continuing to collaborate with these agencies.

I trust you enjoy the rest of the summer and on behalf of the Board, thank you for your continued dedication and commitment to our population. Finally, I would like to thank you for your forbearance as we continue to refurbish Middlemore. I know it is difficult to keep the end result in mind during the upheavals, but it will happen!

Geraint Martin, Chief Executive

Stella was appointed as Director of Allied Health at the end of 2007. This is a new role within CMDHB. The role is accountable, in conjunction with the Chief Medical Officer and the Director of Nursing, for the strategic direction and leadership of the clinical governance framework.

For Allied Health this will mean creating and leading an environment in which excellent clinical care will flourish, built on the foundation of continuously improving quality of services and safeguarding high standards of care for the CMDHB consumers and community.

The Director of Allied Health (DHA) has DHB-wide accountability for the leadership, professional practice and strategic direction for all allied health professions. Each profession also has a Professional Leader/Clinical Leader to directly support practitioners and provide

the DAH and other senior managers with profession-specific feedback and advice.

Stella brings a wealth of experience to her role as Director of Allied Health. She has previously worked as the Professional Leader of Speech Language Therapy and has also been involved in a number of Projects for CMDHB such as Health Services Plan (Rehab) and Disability Awareness. Stella has run her own company employing speech language therapists to work in private practice with ACC and schools. Stella recently closed her private speech language therapy practice to take on this new role. She has worked with adult and paediatric clients and under a number of different service delivery models. “It is my hope that this broad range of experiences will give me an understanding of the many areas allied health clinicians may be working in. It is this network, experience and background that I will draw on” says Stella. “My vision for Allied Health is to raise our profile within the organisation and in the community, improve access to services and ensure that we have competent, flexible and dynamic professionals providing intervention that best meet the needs

of our clients.”Contact Details: Stella Ward, Director Allied

Health, Executive Management - Staff Centre Phone: (09) 276 0044.

Introducing Stella Ward,Director of Allied Health.

E nga mana, E nga reoE nga karangatanga maha o te motuTena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa

Greetings to you all. As this is my first letter in ‘Connect’ I would like to take the opportunity to acknowledge all the staff of the Counties Manukau DHB who have contributed to making this DHB one of the best in New Zealand. As your incoming chair of the board, I am humbled by the achievements that have been made so far in health service delivery. As I walk around the wards and meet clinical staff and management I am impressed with the dedication and commitment of all staff to the challenges of providing health care to the population of this district. I have also

been impressed with the work that is going on in primary care presently, but readily acknowledge that there are a number of future opportunities that we should not want to see go begging. I will write more of this in a future letter.

I would also like to acknowledge former chairman Pat Snedden and members of the previous board, without whose leadership and commitment we would not have seen the advances that have already been made towards reducing inequalities and improving services. Pat leaves a legacy that includes the Pou, the Maori Heath Committee of the Board, with delegated responsibility for the implementation of the Maori Health Plan. I intend to ensure that this work continues and advances.

There are a number of issues that the incoming board will want to tackle. The first is progression of the Health Services Plan that is already well-developed. This plan, which sets out the health services planning for the next 20 years, has had significant staff consultation already. Whilst future flexibility is key, there are clear plans for the development and implementation of health services to ensure that health needs

are going to be appropriately provided for the growing population of South Auckland, predicted to increase by 38% by 2026.

The Board will shortly consider plans for further facilities development, involving significant expenditure over the next ten years. This will be necessary to meet future demand, but also importantly to improve the quality of the facilities that are available at Middlemore and other sites. It is concerning to see the state of some of the facilities, and I know that our board is keen to improve these as soon as is realistically possible, within a reasonable timeframe allowing for the normal capital planning processes that apply in the Crown sector.

I look forward to working with you all and will discuss other future plans in my next letter.

Gregor CosterBoard Chairman

The new cell counters will be 50% faster than the current instruments and allow the laboratory to gain some additional efficiencies such as paperless reporting of results which will save both money and time.

The instruments have been proven to be more reliable than the existing models. The instruments will provide some more advanced analytical parameters which may prove to be valuable in the differential diagnosis of haematological conditions in some patients.

The automated morphology system is used to review blood films. This system is an automated microscope that has a powerful computer utilising an artificial neural network system of classifying blood cells. The images are then made available through the computer network at a number of work stations in the Haematology morphology section of the laboratory. This system is very advanced with only three others in the country.

The Haematology Laboratory is looking forward to introducing these systems and improve on its current excellent clinical service to the clinicians.

Left: The Sysmex XE5000 blood cell counter and slide maker stainer.

New equipment for HaematologyThe Haematology Laboratory is about to receive two state-of-the-art blood cell counters and a new automated morphology analyser at the end of March, for a go - live date in April.

A note from the Chairmanof the Board

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On the 18th of December 2007 the Kidz First Homecare Nursing Service and CMDHB said goodbye to Paediatric Clinical Nurse Cathy Jenkins after more than 34 years of distinguished service to the organisation and the last decade working with the Kidz First Homecare Nursing Service. Cathy has made a valuable contribution to caring for South Auckland children and their families, particularly in the area of palliative care. Cathy leaves us to further pursue this passion within hospice services in South Auckland.

Cathy is seen here at her farewell (second from left) with Community Paediatrician Dr Alison Vogel, former colleague Pelei Tautua and CMDHB Director of Nursing Denise Kivell. From all your patients, friends and colleagues at the Kidz First Community Services and CMDHB a very big thank you and we wish you all the very best for your next venture.

Cathy Jenkins farewell

The “Let’s Beat Diabetes” programme has been given the green light by the Ministry of Health to fund evaluative research on four different projects during 2008.

The fund, open to District Health Boards around New Zealand, supports research around existing outcome-focussed projects which fit within the Ministry’s Healthy Eating ─ Healthy Action objectives.

The successful projects are:• Swap2Win Social Marketing

campaign• Fresh for Less• 5+ a day Workplace initiative• Sport Auckland Green Prescription

Model.

Swap2WinThe Swap2Win concept is based on the

idea that through some simple “swaps” individual families, and the wider community can “win” against obesity and ensure a positive legacy for future generations. The goal of evaluation is to provide a better understanding to manage the process of campaign and social marketing strategy development.

Fresh for LessThe Fresh for Less Health Eating project

is an initiative designed to increase the consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables through increased promotion and reduced cost. Specifically, the project aims to increase fruit and vegetable promotion and discount the price in selected stores.

The goal of the evaluation for the Fresh for Less project is to identify the impact of the project on the sale of fresh fruit and vegetables in the selected stores. Overall the project will be evaluated to identify if the promotion and discounted prices of fresh fruit and vegetables increased purchasing

during the trial period and up to three months after the trial.

5+ a day Workplace InitiativeThe 5+ a day Workplace initiative is a

proposed project with a commercial entity, Auckland University of Technology and United Fresh between March 2008 and March 2009. The project aims to provide workplace employees with access to company-funded fruit and vegetables

The 5+ a day workforce project seeks to evaluate whether the provision of free or company-funded fruit and vegetables will result in a sustained increase in fruit and vegetable consumption in the workforce. The project also seeks to establish whether changing the environment and supporting employees with a health promotion programme will influence eating habits within the homes and whanau of the employees and will the change in eating habits have an impact on staff turnover and absenteeism.

Sport Auckland Green PrescriptionsGreen Prescriptions, which allow GPs to

offer prescriptions of physical activity have been on the rise in Counties Manukau. The purpose is to engage inactive adults in physical activity and support them to lead active and healthy lives within their communities. To date green prescriptions have been predominantly supported by telephone A group-based face-to-face model allows those receiving the green prescription to participate as part of a small group, providing a buddy system and a supportive community.

Funding has been received to evaluate the group-based face-to-face mode of support in Counties Manukau in terms of whether this model is making a significant difference to at risk populations when compared with the traditional phone-based mode and participant acceptability.

Green light for evaluative research

CMDHB have enjoyed recent success in the Quality Health New Zealand/Baxter Quality Improvement awards.

The paper from the Community Based Rehabilitation Team (CBRT) entitled “Stroke: Is there life after hospital” was placed second overall.

Judges for the awards commented on the high standard of written papers and how hard it was to choose the eventual winner (Otago DHB).

This paper, written and presented by Terri Killip, team co-ordinator at the time of the awards in November 2007, described the development of the CBRT and how it fitted into the continuum of care for stroke patients at CMDHB.

The CBRT are a dedicated interdisciplinary team of a Physiotherapist, Occupational Therapist, Speech Language Therapist, Nurse, Social Worker, Dietitian and geriatrician, whose task is to provide rehabilitation in the home for inpatients who are discharged from hospital following a stroke, or patients who have had a stroke in the community and require ongoing community rehabilitation. The team is goal focused, and allows earlier, supported discharge from hospital, or in some cases prevents hospital admission completely.

This is the second time that AT&R services at CMDHB have been placed in the QHNZ award. They won in 2001 for their work in developing a falls risk assessment tool.

Recent success for CMDHB

Great News! Counties Manukau District Health Board now has all of its service and location information live on Healthpoint.

Recent developed CMDHB sites include Stroke Service, Occupational Therapy, Oral Health Dental Service, Physiotherapy, Community Geriatric Service and Bone Density Clinic.

What is HealthPoint you say…? Healthpoint offers patients, caregivers and referring doctors, comprehensive information to make the best decisions when patients are being referred from primary care to specialist care. The information is directly from the providers and is accessible in the one central place.

The information on Healthpoint is supported by systems to ensure quality, accuracy, integrity

and accessibility. Each page displays the dates of the latest review or update. Specialists in each service can edit, change, add brochures or links and each site is set-up and reviewed by a medical editor.

If you have any questions about the CMDHB information on HealthPoint please contact the Web Communications Coordinator email Nicola.Rhind@middlemore.co.nz

All Counties Manukau DHB Clinical Services information is available onwww.healthpoint.co.nz

The 14th of December 2007 was the official launch of the new Warfarin Chart for CMDHB.

Warfarin has been used for over 50 years to treat and prevent blood clots and is really an amazingly effective drug. However, use of the drug is complicated by its high risk of serious adverse events, particularly the increased risk of major bleeding.

Over two years ago it was recognised here that achieving regional consistency of warfarin charting was a powerful way to address this risk; junior medical staff regularly rotate from DHB to DHB and many different prescribing practices are seen. Therefore, a group of interested pharmacists and haematologists from ADHB

and CMDHB began developing a chart that could be used across both DHBs and that would be easy for junior medical staff to use. The resulting new warfarin chart includes a validated algorithm that can be used for the prescription of warfarin to the great majority of patients and carries important reminders about some of the drug and disease interactions that are crucial considerations when prescribing warfarin.

The development of a new warfarin chart is part of the wider focus on safety of warfarin use within Middlemore Hospital and compliments the CMDHB Warfarin Education Programme which consists of innovative resources, such as the warfarin flipchart. This initiative also illustrates what can be achieved regionally with good communication and co-operation.

From left: Vinay Kumari, Sharon Jackson, Gordon Royle,

Anne Blumgart.

Launch of new Warfarin Chart

Monday 4th February 2008 marks the start of the ‘Releasing Time to Care’ Programme.

This nurse led initiative enables ward teams to change the way they work so that they can spend more time working directly with their patients.

Ward teams, led by the Charge Nurse, will be taught how to ‘go lean’. That is, teams will be helped to examine what happens in their ward now; how the ward is set up, what kind of activities take up most of their time, what activities do not add value to patient care and therefore could be viewed as ‘waste’ (of staff time). By reducing waste we can free up staff and other resources to improve the quality of care delivered to our patients.

The Quality Improvement Unit has set up a Project Team to support the wards, led by Maggie Spencer, Senior Quality Improvement Manager. Maggie says

‘I am very excited about this initiative. Staff have long been under pressure to perform, and the cry of ‘we haven’t got time’ is common enough. Releasing Time to Care will allow staff to organise their ward to make doing their job easier and to work smarter by challenging the ‘this is they way it has always been done’ way of thinking. Hospital systems and processes can then be redesigned to focus on the patients needs rather than what the system needs.’

Ward 2, Huia, the Spinal Unit and AT&R Unit will start the ball rolling. The programme will roll out to all wards over the next 12 months. You can find out more about the programme and the progress being made by visiting the ‘Releasing Time’ to Care website on Southnet.

Releasing time to care

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All a

bout

us.

..

Tribute tree thank you…The Christmas Tree that was displayed in the Middlemore foyer over the month of December raised donations of over $150.00.

All proceeds are going to the new Intensive Care Unit, currently under construction, and due to open in June.

Our thanks to Progressive Enterprises for donating the tree decorations, Wendy Petrie for hanging the first bauble, and all staff and visitors that made donations.

Manuaku Superclinic receptionist and telephonist, Nootoa Vavia (pictured) gets a special mention this month for being such a super volunteer at the Alexandra Park ‘Funfest’ event in January.

Nootoa turned up smiling, every day for the four days of the event – now that’s dedication!

Her stamina never slowed, and she was on her feet helping, smiling and joking from Thursday through till Sunday.

One day when we were very busy she rang her children and got them to come in and assist too!

Thank you to Nootoa and all our volunteers that made this such a successful event.

Pictured is Nootoa receiving a thank you gift from the South Auckland Health Foundation.

She is a star

Our vision isThat Counties Manukau’s people live in good

health and are able to fulfill their potential.

Our work is varied, some of our recent achievements include;• Obtaining funding through The Southern

Trust for a Pascal laser machine for the Opthalmology Service, Module 7 at Manukau Superclinic.

• Awarding over 70 Health Scholarships to Counties Manukau residents wanting to study in the health field.

• Organising for every child under the care of Kidz First, both in the Hospital and in the Community to receive a gift at Christmas.

• Working in partnership with the Progressive Fresh Futures appeal, and accepting a cheque for over $250k for equipping the new Clendon Community Clinic.

• Having a Tribute Tree in the foyer of Middlemore during December

• Organising to have a trampoline delivered to a Clendon boy with a lung disease.

Our current project is to raise $1.5m by June 2008 to assist with the new Intensive Care Unit.

YOU, the staff at CMDHB are one of the biggest resources for the South Auckland Health Foundation. We call for volunteers to work at events and you respond with enthusiasm. We could not do it all without you, so THANK YOU to you all.

If you wish to know more about the South Auckland Health Foundation, or any upcoming events, please visit us at www.sahf.org.nz or telephone on 09-2708808.

The South Auckland Health Foundation, established in 1999, is situated on-site, at Middlemore Hospital in the Support Building.

A small team of seven full & part time staff, work hard to raise funds and the profile of the health needs and accomplishments in the Counties Manukau area.

Our charity: The South Auckland Health Foundation is a registered charitable trust that supports and raises funds for the health services of Counties Manukau District Health Board.

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The CMDHB Wellness Programme finished 2007 with the Azion Challenge, coming to an end in late November. A record 721 individuals took part in the new and improved challenge, making up 388 teams racing around Australia. First past the post in the open division where team ‘GAF’ and team ‘Woggers’ took the top spot in the advanced division, each coming in two days ahead of the nearest competition – great racing!

Those who took part in the Challenge entered a prize draw for one of 11 fantastic prizes. The big winner was May Swane from ‘Fab Four’. May won the $1,500 travel prize donated by Azion. Ten $100 Westfield vouchers provided by CMDHB were also up for grabs, the lucky winners were: Bev Mckenzie, Sonic Sisters; Roberta Teura, OT Stars; Jacquie Case, Haematechs; Marleen Verhoeven, Prozac Princess; Geeta Gala, Jolly Prodders; Russell Neal, The A Team; Alison Vogel, Lean & Mean; Linda Woods, Kiwi Stars; Maitera Tutahi, CMTV; and Emma Eagle, Striding Out. Well done to you all!

We’ve also heard about others who are winners in their own right. These individuals have, through the course of the Challenge, improved their fitness, diets, and lost weight making a great impact on their quality of life – great work guys, that’s what it’s all about! If

you have your own success story we’d love to hear about it. Let me know by dropping me a line at nicky.crawford@azion.co.nz.

2008 is lining up to be another great year for the CMDHB Wellness Programme with new AzionTM representative Lisa Reardon ready for onsite visits to discuss what you want more of so if you see her make sure you have your say! FunctionalAgeTM health checks will once again be made available to all employees so let me know if you would like testing at your site in the New Year at nicky.crawford@azion.co.nz.

Thanks everybody for your participation in the Wellness Programme, we look forward to rolling out the 4th year of the programme in 2008!

The Azion Team

The CMDHB Wellness Programme

CMDHB would like to introduce the new nurse leader for primary health care, Karyn Sangster.

Karyn has worked within the Primary Health Care arena for 20 years with her clinical background being District Nursing. She has worked predominantly within the Counties Manukau region.

Karyn has represented district nursing at Counties on many committees and insured that the needs of our community are heard at a strategic level within our DHB. CMDHB has a reputation for being very pro primary health care and she has been proud to be part of projects which have changed how we deliver care and improved outcomes for our population.

Nationally, Karyn has been a member of the District Nurse National Committee since 2005. She has found the strategic national view of this work to be very interesting and rewarding. She has also represented the District Nurse Section NZNO on the Primary Health Care Nurses Advisory Council of NZNO. This group of nurses work at a national strategic level to represent primary health care nursing and consult with MOH

and the Chief Nursing Officer regularly.For 6 months during 2007 Karyn

was given the opportunity to work as a professional nursing advisor for NZNO to cover parental leave. This role required working operationally at a national level for the portfolio of primary health care. The role covered the broad spectrum of nursing practice, contexts of care and required the use analysis and problem solving skills to provide advice and support to nurses in all areas of practice.

We welcome Karyn to her new role. To contact Karyn please email: ksangster@middlemore.co.nz

New nurse leader for primary health care

Grass roots fund revels in ground swell of success.

The “Let’s Beat Diabetes” Community Action Fund has helped kick-start 43 community groups since its inception in 2005 and there is still not a shortage of motivated groups to get involved.

As part of the commitment to beating diabetes and improving health outcomes in the district, the Counties Manukau District Health Board, in association with the Let’s Beat Diabetes community partners, developed the Community Action Fund to support community grassroots organisations through initiatives that encourage local participation in healthy lifestyle activities.

Each application must have clearly defined

goals and objectives, which are in keeping with the “Let’s Beat Diabetes” priorities. These are to improve community nutrition levels, increase participation in physical activity and raise the awareness, knowledge and understanding of diabetes.

Tony Kake, Community Liaison Manager and administrator of the Community Action Fund says “it is very much about meeting community applicants face to face in their backyard and on their terms – so whose health is it anyway!” Tony shows incredible pride in the successes of the people he works with. The success stories may not always be national front page headlines but to some individuals the changes are absolutely lifesaving.

“The groups tell us what they want to do and what would work in their networks and we help

design a programme around that need. People participate more when what they are doing is relevant to them, and it’s not us telling them what to do’” says Tony.

Groups are as diverse as Tai Chi for the elderly, walking groups, salsa dancing, Church participation in exercise classes and “Biggest Loser” challenges; they spread over the whole spectrum of age-groups and cultures.

Members from each group also attend a number of seminars and demonstrations on healthy eating, cooking, fitness, physical activity. According to Tony, a combination of changing environments and behaviours is what will make the difference in the long run around obesity and obesity-related disease.

Let’s Beat Diabetes Community Action Fund

Counties Manukau DHB is about to reap the benefits of a new mental health line which is going live on February 18.

Mental Health Line is a telephone-based triage function operated by McKesson NZ Limited which directs or connects our clients to the appropriate service based on need and urgency.

This service will operate during the ‘after hours’ period (5.00pm – 8.00am weekdays, plus 24/7 weekends and public holidays) and will ensure that clients, their families, other agencies and the community we serve have enhanced access to mental health services during this period.

The Mental Health Line programme for the CMDHB is an extension of the existing Mental Health Line service provided for the Capital and Coast, Hutt Valley, Waikato and Wairarapa District Health Boards and is designed to:• Provide information to clients about

mental health and mental health services;• Improve information flows within and

between services;• Simplify the number of consumer entry

points into services;• Improve coordination of access to

services;• Better match services to needs;• Assess the impact of a telephone-based

access and information service on the delivery of mental health services in the district.

Staffed by McKesson’s skilled and experienced mental health professionals, the service will provide information to clients who call it, providing after-hours triage directing or connecting clients to the appropriate service based on need and urgency.

We expect that the Mental Health Line will reduce the volume of inappropriate calls to existing services and this will allow staff to deal with current backlogs and job pressures in existing services.

At 5pm on Monday 18 February 2008 the service will commence. In the meantime, a project team of your colleagues and peers are working hard to ensure the implementation runs smoothly and to schedule.

Mental Health clients can assess this new service by simply calling their current Community Mental Health Centre or Specialist Service. From here they will have the capacity to connect to Mental Health Line.

Mental health line - at a glance

Manukau East residents can now take advantage of a local shopping shuttle service provided by MECOSS volunteers and other community organizations.

The service will help senior citizens to do their shopping, meet new friends and share a cup of tea and have a chat.

The bus picks up people from their homes and takes them to The Botany Town Centre. The passengers pay a $5.00 fee for the return trip which operates every Thursday.

With a shortage of support workers able to provide these services our senior citizens are now able to utilise this shopping shuttle to do their shopping. The unexpected outcome of this is that it has encouraged some of our seniors to contribute their skills and experience in their new-found role as volunteers. They assist the less able ones to do their shopping at a pace suitable to them. This is a good example of older people representing an invaluable human and social resource.

To use the service, one can call Age Concern on 279 4331 ext 800 with name, address and telephone number. The bus and fuel are provided by the Howick Salvation Army. The driver, co-driver and companions are all volunteers.

A new service will be starting on 7th February 2008 to the Westfield Plaza in Pakuranga as well. Westfield will be the sole sponsors for the tea and coffee.

New Manukau East shopping service

On a day when the country paid their respects to Sir Edmund Hillary a small group gathered to celebrate new beginnings and bless the land where the new six storey ward block would stand.

It was a moving ceremony attended by CEO Geraint Martin, local Kaumatua and members of the construction and project teams. After a welcoming karakia (prayer), the group was led down to the base of the future ward block. A piece of old building 6, which is currently being demolished was blessed and buried underground. The main significance of this ritual is to pay tribute to Papatuanuku (mother earth) for allowing a building to be placed upon her. The piece of the old building was placed for remembrance sake.

Blessing for new ward block

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2008 started off well for the Director of Nursing’s team welcoming the addition of key appointments at a Powhiri held at Tiaho Mai Marae.

Building relationships and working in partnership were key themes.

The joint appointments with the University of Auckland have been initiated for Clinical Nurse Director

roles in acute care Annie Fogarty and Adult Rehab & Health of Older People, Joanne Agnew. These roles will help ensure clinical practice is integrated in the academic programmes. The new primary health care nurse leader Karyn Sangster steps up into her new role after working with district nurses over the last 10 years plus.

The latest addition to the team is our business advisor; a new graduate from Health

Sciences with a focus in management: Nuwanthie Samarakone who is on a development programme for 6 months at CMDHB & then to Southern Cross.

As the DON I am looking forward to the year ahead. There are many challenges unfolding however with the developing strength of the senior nursing team I have faith in their ability and passion to improve and lead quality nursing care. This year will see a focus on

quality improvements and workforce development. Already this month we

have extended our intake to take on 68 new graduates across the

DHB. I am also keen to see us as a DHB that retains our staff and invite staff to come forth with ideas or initiatives. With that challenge in mind- I wish you all the best for 2008.

Denise Kivell

Nursing Powhiri, left to right – Joanne Agnew, Nuwanthie Samarakone, Annie Fogarty, Karyn Sangster, Denise Kivell.

New members to Director of Nursing team welcomed with Powhiri

Alison Robertson, a research nurse for the past 4 years, has been appointed to the newly created role of Research Officer for Counties Manukau DHB. This is a part-time role funded by the CMDHB Clinical Board in association with CCRep.

The primary purpose of the role is to assist CMDHB staff with their research - to navigate the processes, both internal and external, that need to be followed when undertaking a new project. Alison can also assist with accessing external funding for research projects.

Alison said “I have had experience with research for the last 4 ½ years coordinating research trials in Hepatology and I am very

enthusiastic about promoting and supporting research here at Counties Manukau. I will be meeting and liaising with many people currently involved in research in the near future.”

External researchers, such as those at other DHBs or tertiary institutes wishing to undertake research projects at CMDHB should contact Alison to get advice on how best to proceed. “Part of my role is an advisory service so if you have any queries or need help please don’t hesitate to contact me.”

Alison will also coordinate the CMDHB Research Committee which is a subcommittee of the Clinical Board. Therefore she will play a central role in overseeing the many and varied research activities that are undertaken here at CMDHB. “I am excited about this new role and look forward to working with all of you” she said.

Alison has an office within CCRep and can be contacted by calling 021 943 784 or dialing extension 9124.

Research officer appointed at CMDHB

I would be lying if I said my heart didn’t sink when I answered my cellphone at an Auckland roadside café. The conversation started with the news that no, I had not achieved the highly sought after position of new graduate paediatric nurse, but would I consider a 12 month placement in public health. I was assured I would still be working with children.

I signed up for the job, having no idea what a public health nurse was, what they did, who they worked with and for what purpose. All I knew was that they were in the community and that you got to wear what ever you wanted to work.

Prior to starting I heard many things about public health nurses. They had it easy. It was the job you did when you had done your dash in the hospital and then wanted to sit down and relax. Public health nurses do nothing but drive around in board cars and drink coffee. Initially this looked to be true. When I arrived on my first day, I was very much the youngest nurse in the office. It was 8am and a few nurses were hovering around a newly boiled kettle, ready and waiting to receive their hot cup of coffee to kick-start the day. An hour later, they all seemed to get in their board cars and drive off somewhere.

The first few weeks went by quickly, but I quickly discovered that this easy breezy image of the public health nurse was not all it seems. There are many skills required to make good of this sometimes very challenging job. For example, it turned out that I was quite directionally challenged and had a phobia of being around dogs. This combined with my

serious need to expand my knowledge made home-visiting parents nerve-racking!

It also happens that my organisational skills needed some work too. By the end of the first month, I was looking around at the super tidy desks of fellow nurses, wondering how on earth the Mount Everest of paperwork had stacked itself on my desk!

There seems to be a huge number of specific skills that are required by the public health nurse. One must know how to immunise, how to assess ear health, how to drive defensively, how to speak the lingo of the people you are working with, how to manage your time, and how to tackle a vast range of health issues. Public health nurses know about child abuse, education, health promotion, ears, eyes, nose, throats, parents, teachers, children, doctors, pharmacists, health camps and every service available to anyone in the community. They know about most systems and services, and they know them well enough to A) use them to the patient’s advantage, or B) get around them to the patient’s advantage. They also know how to stop children, teachers, parents and principals from talking your ear off but still manage to facilitate and maintain incredibly positive working relationships with all. Finally whilst juggling all of this, they are cool, calm and collected, with the ability to sit in the middle of it all, smiling, and relaxed with a cup of coffee.

I am in awe of public health nurses. It has taken me 12 months to come to a point where my feet are wet in this diverse role, and I have only come this far because of the support the

close tight knit family of public health nurses that have woven themselves into my life.

It has been a wonderful year, of fun, learning and opportunity.

I have learned that relationships and communication are the basis for doing a good job, and getting the job done. I have learned how to read a map and that somewhere or another all roads really do lead to the same place! I have learned how to accept and work within the values and beliefs of others. I have learned about advocacy and patience, and understanding.

My eyes have been opened to a world much larger than that which is found within the walls of a hospital. I am coming to know and understand PEOPLE, and as a nurse that is the most important thing to keep central in my practice.

As I finish my new graduate year and prepare to face new challenges, I look back upon the last 12 months with a sense of pride. Despite my original reservations, I have grown to love public health. They say working in the community is ‘working at the coal face’. I could never have imagined what this really meant, or how it would change me. To put it very simply, it has made me a better nurse, and for this reason, I firmly believe that all nurses need to have a taste of community health.

The new graduate experience of public health nursing. By Jodie AbrahamI remember exactly where I was the day the news broke that I would be spending my first year as a registered nurse working in public health. Like most graduating nurses, I had nervously applied for a position in acute care. My first choice was paediatric inpatient, second choice, emergency care.

CONNECT | PAGE 1�

We are especially interested in contributions from our community partners.If you have a story you would like to contribute for Connect please email it to the Editor at: lryoung@middlemore.co.nz

The Mangere Integrated Community Healthcare Project (MICH) is going back to the community to seek nominations from community leaders to form a Kaitiaki Governance group.

A review of the MICH project back in August 2007, supported by the findings of an international literature review of integrated community health developments, identified community “ownership” and clinical engagement as two critical success factors

to successful integration models. A planning group from the August workshop, comprising of community, council and provider members, was asked to develop a governance structure and process for taking this important project forward. It has recommended a relationships framework that ensures the inclusion of the different parts of the diverse Mangere community through a Tiriti/Treaty Relationships approach.

The project Kaitiaki Group will be responsible for ensuring that the project objectives are achieved through a structured work programme that reflects a community development model and is supported by Counties Manukau DHB,

Government sector agencies and health providers.

MICH is looking for people who are recognised leaders in the Mangere community with an understanding of health and social services and experience in working across cultures.

Your interest is welcome if you feel you can make a contribution to this important project.

Applications close on 25th February. Enquiries should be directed to Pam Montford, Executive Assistant to the Director of Primary Care Development, CMDHB, on (09) 262 9540.

Mangere Integrated Community Healthcare Project seeks community leaders

Featuring: Dame Kiri Te Kanawa

Saturday 23rd February Auckland Domainfrom 4.30pm – 10.30pmIf you are able to help please contact Amber Stanton - Stantoa@middlemore.co.nzP: (09) 276 0044 ext 2809 M: 021 947 185

Volunteer t-shirts and refreshments provided.

We need your help to collect donations, sell light-sticks and raffle tickets at the event, so grab all your friends and volunteer!All proceeds will go towards paediatric beds in Middlemore Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit

We need volunteers forStarlight Symphony 2008

It is estimated that only about 70% of two year olds in South Auckland are fully immunised.

This is on the best information available to us, although it could very well be a little higher. However, it still falls short of the MoH’s target of 90% fully immunised children at 2 years. PHOs, with the support of CMDHB have joined together to make March Immunisation Month, with special emphasis on babies and the under twos. There are a number of barriers which we need to be overcome - apathy towards the benefits of immunisation, lack of awareness of the possibly devastating effects of diseases such as mumps, measles and whooping cough, busy parents and caregivers and the mistaken belief that little babies do not have a strong enough system to deal with vaccines.

An advertising campaign will run throughout March, with special emphasis on our Maori and Pacific communities. Practices will be encouraged to hold “open clinics” outside of normal hours so that working caregivers have added access. This is also a chance for practices to perform the associated WellChild checks to pick up any other problems.

March is immunisation month