Media Release

22 May 2007

Twenty-two finalists in New Zealand Health Innovation Awards

The elderly, people with mental health needs and teenagers are just some of those benefiting from the 22 projects chosen as finalists in the 2007 New Zealand Health Innovation Awards (HIA).

The New Zealand Health Innovation Awards are a long-standing joint initiative by the Ministry of Health and ACC. They celebrate innovative thinking and, often, life changing developments in the health field.

Finalists include a project which helps people with on-going mental health issues find good quality, stable, accommodation in Hawke’s Bay, a menstrual health and endometriosis teaching programme for use in secondary schools, and a project that helps the elderly set life goals to improve their fitness levels.

This year there were nearly 190 entries, compared with 111 last year.

Six of the finalists are from the Canterbury region, six are from Auckland, five are from Hawke’s Bay, four are from Waikato, and there is one finalist from South Canterbury.

“The New Zealand Health Innovation Awards celebrate the innovation of New Zealand’s health professionals and showcase some of the excellent developments and improvements within our health service,” said Ministry of Health spokesman Dr Colin Feek, announcing the finalists.

“New Zealand is showing it is at the cutting edge when it comes to progressive thinking and the development of ideas. We’ve seen previous winners attract international acclaim.”

Dr Jan White, Chief Executive of ACC says "the New Zealand Health Innovation Awards have established a reputation for showcasing original, and often ground breaking, developments in the health arena. ACC is very pleased to work with the Ministry of Health to ensure that original thinking is celebrated and, ultimately, utilised to improve the health of New Zealanders."

The HIA began in 2003. In 2007 there are eight categories:

Excellence in Primary Health Care
Excellence in Quality Improvement
Excellence in Prevention
Excellence in Rehabilitation
Excellence in Treatment
Innovation
Process Improvement
People's Choice

This year’s HIA winners will be announced at the HIA expo and gala dinner held on 10 October at the Wellington Town Hall.

The complete list of finalists is below. Further information about the HIA is available online at www.healthinnovationawards.co.nz.

For more information please contact:
Liz Price, 04 527 3290, 0276 957 744.

2007 HIA Finalists

Hawke’s Bay District Health Board: Improving stable housing options for people with mental illness
Tamatea Medical Centre: Keep Me Smiling, Oral Health Project
Hawke’s Bay District Health Board: Child Protection and Family Violence Intervention Programmes
Hawke’s Bay District Health Board: Improving Results in the Mental Health and Addiction Services
Kahungunu Health Services: Te Wananga Taitamariki – promoting healthy lifestyles to decile 1 tamariki
East Tamaki Healthcare Services: Safer Healthcare Using Trigger Tools
Tamaki Healthcare PHO: Dietician in Primary Healthcare project
Auckland Regional Public Health Service, Harbour PHO and Waitemata District Health Board’s Asian Health Support Service and Health Gain team: Asian Smokefree Communities pilot service
Auckland Regional Public Health Service: Mangere Healthy Kai programme
Waitemata District Health Board: Colorectal Cancer Service Improvement Programme
ElderCare New Zealand: LIFE – A Personal Wellness Programme for Older People
Canterbury District Health Board: Improving the Patient Journey Programme
Canterbury District Health Board: A Group Circuit Rehabilitation Programme
Canterbury District Health Board: Front Door Physio
Canterbury District Health Board: Improving the care of children at Christchurch Hospital with gastroenteritis and dehydration
South Link Health (Timaru): Mental Health Brief Intervention Service (MHBIS) in primary care
ARANZ Medical Limited: Advancing Wound Assessment into the digital era
NZ Endometriosis Foundation: me, an endometriosis programme impacting on health outcomes in NZ
Waikato District Health Board: Nurse Led Preadmission - Gynaecology
Waikato District Health Board: Separation of Conjoined Twins
Healthcare NZ, supported by Waikato District Health Board and the Ministry of Health: Providing In-Home Support and Respite for Medically Fragile Children
Waikato District Health Board: Newborn Hearing Screening Programme