Better Help for Smokers to Quit
41,139 smokers received smoking cessation advice and support from their General Practice team in the 2015/16 year, taking overall coverage to 91%. The Stop Smoking Support team, based at Pegasus, contacted 16,451 people on behalf of their General Practice team to offer brief advice and cessation support. Of those contacted, 2524 accepted a referral to a cessation support service. Referrals were made to external organisations such as Quitline or, if the practice preferred, people were referred to the General Practice for a consultation with their GP or PEGS nurse.
More Heart & Diabetes Checks
In the last five years, 102,430 people had been assessed for cardiovascular risk, as at 30 June 2016. This represents an increase of 8882 assessments completed in the last year, with 86% of the eligible population having had a risk assessment by their General Practice team. At the same time last year, coverage was 80.7%.
Cervical Screening
Eighty per cent of women aged 25 to 69 had received a cervical smear in the last three years, as at 30 June 2016.
Increased Immunisation
In the 2015/16 year, 97% of all eight-month-old and 95% of two-year-old children enrolled with Pegasus General Practices were fully vaccinated on time.
B4 School Checks
Pegasus General Practice teams completed a total of 3592 B4 School Checks in the 2015/16 year, of which 361 checks were completed in the community by the Pegasus mobile outreach B4 School Check Nursing team. The Public Health Nursing service completed 1319 checks on behalf of Pegasus General Practices which don’t provide the B4 School Check. This equates to an overall coverage of 96.3% of four-year-old children receiving a check. A total of 412 dental referrals; 202 vision referrals; and 182 hearing referrals were made as an outcome of the checks. Two hundred and twenty-three children were referred to a health professional due to concerns about growth/weight.
Increased BIC Capacity with NZ Red Cross Funding
The Mental Health team at Pegasus Health commenced a new contract with New Zealand Red Cross in December 2015. This agreement is to increase the capacity of Brief Intervention and Co-ordination (BIC) services in greater Christchurch, to respond to and address the needs emerging three to five years post the 2010/11 Christchurch earthquakes. The increased service will aim to improve the health and wellbeing of individuals who have experienced and/or are still experiencing psychological distress and/or mild to moderate psychiatric illness. Funding has been made available for two years to enable 500 patients to be seen annually. Funding has allowed 2 FTE to be contracted, and to date the service has seen 391 patients for 1330 sessions.