High St City Health prepares for Foundation Standard
Sue Denton
The team at High St City Health started looking at what they needed to do to meet the Foundation Standard in September last year.
Practice Manager Sue Denton says Dr Mick Ozimek, who is Pegasus Health’s clinical leader for the Foundation Standard, was understandably keen to ensure his workplace met all of the requirements.
She says three members of the City Health team – herself, Mick and practice nurse Ginnie Taylor – meet every Thursday morning to check their progress on reaching the Standard and take any new ideas to the practice’s monthly staff meeting.
“One of the major things we have done is convert our standard processes into written policies, meaning that anyone who comes to work here knows how we do things and why.”
City Health has used many of the pre-written policies available on Pegasus World (Pegasus Health’s partner focused intranet), as the basis of their new policies. As each new document is produced, staff members are required to look at it and sign a sheet to say they have read and understood it.
Sue says being able to access the Pegasus policies has been a godsend. “It’s saved us all so much time.”
In working towards the Foundation Standard, the City Health team have also been on several courses, provided by Pegasus Health, on topics such as the Treaty of Waitangi, Infection Prevention and Control and Vulnerable Children’s Act.
Their heightened awareness of health, safety and privacy issues has encouraged them to make a number of changes to the way they work.
Women patients now have a more private room for smear tests; patient files are now stored in more secure cupboards away from the waiting room and reception area; and an incident book is being used to record any issues that have threatened staff or patient safety. Anything recorded in the incident book is discussed at the next team meeting.
Sue says meeting the Foundation Standard is a work in progress but City Health is confident that it will be “well and truly ready” for its assessment next year.