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Tēnā Koutou katoa Over the past month St John Ambulance has been experiencing intermittent but persistent episodes where demand has exceeded resourcing. While there are always peaks and troughs, over the past two weeks demand has been consistently high. Last week was our highest 111 call and ambulance response volume since records began, and we have also seen significantly greater demand within patient transfer service (PTS). We had predicted an increase in demand through this time due to winter illness, however the increase has been more profound than anticipated, which appears to be reflected throughout all of health. As a result, we have decided to stand up an Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) in Auckland, to provide operational support through this period of high demand and to help ensure the welfare of our people and our patients. continued...
We released public advice last week, and have now developed specific advice for primary care and aged care. Please support by cascading this advice to your networks.
We continue to monitor demand for ambulance services and will advise when we are able to return to our business as usual state. Please let me know if you need anything in the meantime. Ngā mihi nui Kia ora and Greetings Please click here to read the Te Manawa Taki Mental Health & Addiction Winter Newsletter. We hope that you find it informative and helpful. Please feel free to distribute widely. A nationwide campaign aiming to raise awareness around the symptoms of heart valve disease is being run in July and August. There will be adverts on Family Health Diaries on TV1 with Jude Dobson and on radio and digital platforms. You may notice more patients coming in and asking for a Heart Check. Click here for more information Tēnā koutou, We are pleased to update you about the progress to implement the End of Life Choice Act 2019 (the Act) and assisted dying services in New Zealand. Assisted dying will be legal in New Zealand from 7 November 2021. There is also further information available on the Ministry’s website. Implementation is progressing and a number of decisions have been made on the delivery of assisted dying, and the funding model. continued...
Delivery of assisted dying services Assisted dying services will be publicly funded in New Zealand and the Ministry of Health will be responsible for overseeing the funding and provision of assisted dying services. These decisions have been made by Cabinet and the background Cabinet paper can be seen here. To support equitable access to services, any medical or nurse practitioner who is suitably qualified, and willing to do so, will be able to provide parts of the assisted dying services. If a practitioner is providing services through private practice, a non-government organisation or primary practice, they will be able to access funding through a fee-for-service model. This model is being developed. Assisted dying services are most likely to be provided in a person’s home or other community settings, rather than in hospital settings. A person’s medical or nurse practitioner will be able to travel to the person to provide care, and travel costs will be funded. The Support and Consultation for End of Life in New Zealand (SCENZ) group will maintain the lists of practitioners who will be involved in assisted dying services. This group is expected to be established during July, and expressions of interest will be invited from practitioners willing to provide assisted dying services. For more detail, about the delivery and funding of assisted dying please see the detailed information sheet on the Ministry website. Funding mechanism The funding mechanism to pay health practitioners for providing assisted dying services will be created through a section 88 Notice, under the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act 2000. The implementation team will now begin to work directly with representative groups of health and disability organisations to inform and develop the details of the Notice. This approach will ensure the funding mechanism is in place in time for 7 November 2021. The Ministry will receive independent advice on the costing model and price schedule, and the level of funding that practitioners should be able to claim for completing parts of the service, and that advice will be informed by discussions with health and disability organisations representative of the sector. If a practitioner is providing services as part of their employment within a district health board (DHB), DHB funding will cover these costs where assisted dying is bring provided in the DHB setting. Medicines An eligible patient will not need to pay additional fees (such as prescription co-payments) when medications are prescribed for assisted dying. The Ministry has work underway to ensure appropriate medicines are available. Guidance and training resources for the health sector Information and learning resources for health professionals and health service providers can be found on the Ministry’s LearnOnline platform. The following resources are now available:
Health professionals can register for the next implementation webinar on patient perspectives Hosted on 14 July between 7-8pm, this webinar will cover research on patient perspectives of assisted dying, and will also provide an update about implementation progress. Find out more and register here: https://mohnz.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_d3IQgmnxSuqv6Dobo4hbsw Upcoming workforce survey An invitation to complete a workforce survey will be issued over the next week. This is an opportunity for health professionals to provide their current views around the implementation of the assisted dying in New Zealand. The survey will be open until the end of July and will inform our implementation planning. If you have questions, please contact us at eolc@health.govt.nz Remember to sign up for our regular newsletters here. Nga Mihi nui End of Life Choice Act Implementation programme team Tēnā koutou, Click here for information regarding an Oral Health Promotion Initiative that will be launched this year. A key component of the initiative is the provision of free toothbrushes and fluoride toothpaste to preschool children and their whānau, with a particular focus on Māori and Pacific children and those living in low income families. It is proposed that this be undertaken as a complementary activity to the oral health messaging provided through the Well Child Tamariki Ora (WCTO) programme, as well as via health providers and community organisations, so that we can opportunistically reach pre-schoolers that may need additional support and/or are not enrolled with a WCTO provider. continued...
The Oral Health team at the Ministry is in programme design phase and would value your input if you have the time – we are absolutely focussed on how we can achieve the objective of improving the oral health of preschool children. There are two things that would be helpful to us:
Please do get in touch, we would love to hear from you. Ngā mihi nui, Beks Message from the chair of HiNZ-NMIWinter is upon us – what better time than now to get cosy, grab a cuppa, and read edition 12 of the HiNZ-NMI newsletter. Click here to read the HiNZ-NMI Newsletter 12th Edition |
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July 2021
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