Chair's Report
PROF LES TOOP, CHAIR
PEGASUS HEALTH (CHARITABLE) LTD
From L-R: Peter Townsend; Dr Gayle O’Duffy; Dr Sharon Ashmore; Dr Harsed Chima; Prof Les Toop (Chair); Dr Hillary Gray; Nicky Scott; Prof Andrew Hornblow; Jane Huria.
Absent: Dr John Coughlan
2016 has been a busy year for Pegasus Health with a number of established projects progressing and considerable work undertaken to acquire and refit new ‘fit for purpose’ premises.
At this time of the year we start our annual strategic planning cycle and it is time for reflection and for looking forward.
The Canterbury health system remains stretched with many of the medium term health effects of the earthquakes now becoming more evident, none more so than in the mental health arena. Pegasus practice teams have stepped up and continue to provide a first class primary care service with the practices supported by a variety of initiatives, many based within Pegasus Health.
The extra workload post 2010-11 will continue for many years and it will be compounded by the ageing demographics of both the population and the health workforce. We need therefore to develop innovative ways of delivering ever more complex care, closer to home. Half of Pegasus practices are now exploring working in more integrated and efficient ways. It is an exciting time for innovative models of care. Pegasus is also part of national coalitions with sister networks to progress this work.
Information Technology has become a significant part of our programme work and it is pleasing to see some of the products we have been key partners in developing, are being introduced in other parts of the country. HealthOne, the electronic shared record is South Island wide and the Electronic Request Management System (ERMS), built mostly by Pegasus teams, reached a new milestone recently passing one million referrals by March 2016. You can read more on this later in this annual report. We can be very proud of the fact that this too has now been rolled out to General Practices across the South Island.
We are poised to move the Pegasus teams (including Canterbury Clinical Network and Canterbury Community Pharmacy Group) and education facilities into new premises at Pegasus House at 401 Madras Street (near the Bealey Avenue corner), with current access off Dollans Lane.
Staff will occupy the top two floors while the ground floor is being reconfigured to provide a larger and more fit for purpose 24 hour clinical facility. We hope to occupy this part in April 2017. Discussions are underway to decide on the future of the 160 Bealey Avenue site. Recent changes to the staffing ratios have put the service on a more secure footing.
Our investment in Homecare Medical (partnered with Procare in Auckland), which resulted in the national telehealth service, has been very successful. The first year has been very well managed and the service is running extremely well. Additional services are being added regularly. A number of staff are employed in Christchurch, Wellington, Auckland and Dunedin. We will use this platform to manage after hours care in conjunction with our 24 hour service.
Congratulations to Settlers Health Centre and Cashmere Medical Practice for becoming the first two practices in the South Island to achieve the Foundation Standard. They were presented with their certificates from the Royal NZ College of General Practitioners in June 2016.
The Foundation Standard represents what is considered to be the minimum legal professional and regulatory requirements for General Practice. All practices must meet the Standard before 1 July 2017, either by undergoing Foundation Standard assessment (via their Primary Health Organisation) or by attaining Cornerstone accreditation.
I was delighted to hear that 100 practice managers and administration staff attended Pegasus Health’s first Administration and Practice Management Excellence (APEX) Forum. This event gave people a chance to learn about the important role primary care teams play in the bigger picture of the Canterbury health system. The APEX programme, which was launched in February 2016, is a professional development programme for non-clinical General Practice staff. Again, you can read more about this in the Annual Report and I urge you read on.
Other highlights include the regular scholarships, awarded in May. Twenty-one students from Maori, Pacific and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds were awarded 2016 scholarships by Pegasus Health. With recipients studying medicine, nursing and allied health, often having faced adversity and challenges along the way, the awards ceremony is a wonderful celebration of these students’ determination and success.
The breadth of activity is huge and as key partners in the Canterbury Clinical Network alliance, it is easy to see how and why we are seen by funders as a key and central component to the success of the Canterbury health system. Of course there is still much to do under ongoing, trying conditions as the rebuild continues. We are lucky to have such a willing and able workforce, supported by dedicated and skilful Pegasus teams, and I thank them all.