15 June 2010
Dear Member
We welcome any feedback on the contents of the 7th issue for 2010 of ASMS Direct, our national electronic publication. This copy of ASMS Direct focuses on:
1. New Quality & Safety Commission
2. Outcome of National Executive By-Election
3. CTU media statement on health spending
4. National IT website
1. NEW QUALITY & SAFETY COMMISSION
On 10 June, the Minister of Health, Hon Tony Ryall, announced the formation of the interim new Quality & Safety Commission to replace the Quality Improvement Committee. His media statement included the following comments:
Once established by legislation, this new independent commission will accelerate safety and quality improvement across the health sector. A Bill is currently before the Health Select Committee.
The MRG [Ministerial Review Group – Horn Report] reported evidence of substantial human and financial costs associated with medical errors, like prescription and surgical errors and preventable infections. According to one study 13% of people admitted to hospital suffer an unintended injury caused by healthcare that resulted in some disability.
Fully implementing safe medication management, management of healthcare incidents, optimising the patient journey and infection prevention and control, should produce real health and financial benefits to district health boards...
The new HQSC will help organisations across the whole sector improve patient safety and service quality – including public and private, at secondary, primary and community levels.
Its will develop standards and guidelines, benchmark, and gather comparative data on what works. It will help clinicians and managers to make improvements, and publish national quality reports– e.g. serious and sentinel events.
Stronger clinical leadership is particularly important for improving patient safety and service quality. The MRG reported that the Health and Disability Commissioner found this area had 'slow and patchy' progress.
The interim Board of the HQSC will be led by Professor Alan Merry from the University of Auckland, who is also Chair of the Quality and Safety of Practice Committee of the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists. Prof Merry led the Safe Anaesthesia Group of the World Health Organisation’s Safe Surgery Saves Lives Initiative - a surgical safety check list that is being rolled out internationally. The interim board members all bring a wealth of experience in health and we’re pleased to have them onboard.
The Commission reflects an increasing level of commitment from both the government and health services to improving the quality and safety of healthcare in this country.
As well as Professor Merry, the appointments to the interim board are:
• Dr Peter Foley – Hawke’s Bay GP and Chair of the New Zealand Medical Association.
• Shelly Frost – Director of Nursing for Pegasus Health, (Canterbury).
• Dr David Galler – intensive care specialist (Counties Manukau), Principal Medical Advisor for the Ministry of Health, and former ASMS National President.
• Anthea Penny – former chief executive of Nurse Maude Association and currently involved in health leadership training.
• Dr Peter Jansen – a senior medical advisor for ACC (also on their Maori Advisory Board).
• Geraint Martin: Chief Executive of Counties Manukau DHB.
The ASMS has welcomed this announcement and commended the Minister for his appointments. We were particularly pleased with the appointment of two ASMS nominees – Professor Merry and Dr Galler.
2. OUTCOME OF NATIONAL EXECUTIVE BY-ELECTION
The Returning Officer has declared Dr Heinrich Stander (Tairawhiti paediatrician) elected unopposed to the Region 3 vacancy on the National Executive. This follows the resignation of Dr Torben Iversen to take up a position in Australia.
3. CTU MEDIA STATEMENT ON HEALTH SPENDING
The Council of Trade Unions Economist and Policy Director, Dr Bill Rosenberg has prepared a further analysis of the government’s budget in respect of health in a paper titled Did the Budget provide enough for Health? which can be found on the following CTU website http://union.org.nz/health-working-papers.
On 3 June the CTU released the following media statement under the heading ‘Well over $100 million cuts in health services on the cards’:
Health services across New Zealand face cuts of well over $100 million in the year ahead…deeper analysis of the Budget Health Vote reveals the full extent of the funding shortfall and the reality of ‘reprioritised savings’, inflation, and cost shifting from ACC.
The $508 million in additional operating funding, announced in the Budget, is barely enough to meet previously anticipated costs. Any service improvements and restructuring costs must therefore be funded from cuts in other services, deterioration in their quality, increased user charges or increased DHB deficits, unless efficiencies can be found.
We estimate that taking into account possible efficiencies, around $118 million of cuts or other deterioration in the Health system will be required. The cuts are likely to be even greater than $118 million due to the effects of high inflation and costs from the cuts in ACC being loaded onto public health services.
Our pre-Budget analysis, which estimated $555 million would be needed just to stand still, allowed for inflation at 2.4 percent in 2010/11, but the Government’s own forecast is for it to go as high as 5.9 percent. That would cost $58 million excluding the rise in GST.
We have not factored in any consideration of the inflation impact on wages but note that the Government will have to find another $90 million for each 1 percentage point wage increase greater than that allowed for in the Health Vote.
The greatest part of the burden will have to be borne by DHBs. As well as the increased pressure on their operating budgets, DHB deficit support for the coming year is around $20 million less than forecast DHB deficits for the year to June 2010.
4. NATIONAL IT WEBSITE
One of the new groups established under the government’s restructuring is the creation of a National Health IT Board which is part of the National Health Board (Ministry of Health). It now has a new website http://www.ithealthboard.health.nz. This site introduces viewers to the board including its advisory and delivery groups and what it is involved in
Ian Powell
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
