Media Release

4 May 2004

Health Innovation Awards finalists announced

New Zealanders are reaping the benefits of novel and cost-efficient health care innovations developed by the 25 finalists named today in the 2004 New Zealand Health Innovation Awards.

Selected from 126 entries, their innovations include a mobile operating theatre that travels the country, a low-cost tattoo removal service, a new way of helping people find their way around a hospital and a school based peer support programme.

Changes to the way that patients with stomach upsets are treated have resulted in a $1.5 million saving for Auckland District Health Board while a bar code scanner used in a colour vision test at Christchurch Hospital has trimmed the time to produce reports from an hour to four minutes.

New Zealand’s premier health and rehabilitation awards were first sponsored by ACC and the Ministry of Health last year to promote and encourage health innovation and the sharing of good ideas that can benefit more New Zealanders.

The 25 finalists are located across the country and represent both the main centres and smaller towns such as Waihi and Gore. They offer a diverse range of ideas, initiatives and solutions that will speed recovery that can be transferred to health providers across the country.

The finalists will exhibit their entries at Te Papa in Wellington on June 14 when the winners will be announced at a special ceremony and dinner.

The overall winner will receive $15,000.

Last year’s winner of the supreme award was a retinal screening programme developed by Wellington Independent Practitioners’ Association (WIPA) and the New Zealand Association of Optometrists. The programme screened 4000 people in its first year.

Profiles of each of the finalists can be found on the Health Innovations Awards website at: www.healthinnovationawards.co.nz



Health Innovation Awards 2004: Contacts for Finalists

The following is a breakdown, by region, of the finalists for the Health Innovation Awards, with contact details for each. Further information about the initiatives is available on the awards website at: www.healthinnovationawards.co.nz

Auckland

Mangere Community Health Trust
Fresh Start Programme-Tattoo Removal
Michael Lamont, Chairman
40 Oakdale Road
Hillsborough
Auckland
mlamont@xtra.co.nz
09 625 7652 or 021 968 919

Helen Cunningham
Multi-Disciplinary Diabetic Foot Clinic
Orthopaedic Outpatients
Green Lane Clinical Centre
Auckland
helencun@adhb.govt.nz
09 8152343

Elizabeth Brookbanks and Avril Lee
Warfarin - Paint a Better Picture
Private Bag 93 053
Nth Shore Hosp
Auckland
Avril.Lee@waitematadhb.govt.nz
elizabeth.brookbanks@waitematadhb.govt.nz
Avril (09) 486 8920 ext 3701 or 021 777 715
Elizabeth 09 486 1491 x 2909

Waitemata DHB
Waitakere Hospital’s Novel Wayfinding Programme
Stuart Manning
Private Bag 93 503
Takapuna
North Shore
stuart.manning@waitematadhb.govt.nz

Urology Dept Auckland City Hospital
Trial Removal of Catheter Referral Form
Jacqueline Ryan
Urology Dept, Auckland City Hospital
Private Bag 92 024
Auckland
jryan@adhb.govt.nz

ProCare Health
Primary Mental Health Programme
Mark Wills, CEO
110 Stanley Street
Grafton
Auckland
mark.vella@procare.co.nz
09 375 7819

Urology Dept Auckland City Hospital
Cyproterone Acetate Register – (for Prostate Cancer)
Jonathan Masters
Auckland City Hospital
Grafton Road
Auckland
jonathanm@ahsl.co.nz

Auckland DHB & Procare
No Scope for Improvement: Avoiding Unnecessary Gastroscopy Through Improved Primary Care Management of Dyspepsia
Dr Allan Pelkowitz (ADHB) & Dr Peter Didsbury (ProCare)
L8, Bldg 13
Green Lane Hospital
Auckland
allanp@adhb.govt.nz
09 630 9943 x 4098

Cytogenetics Lab LabPlus
Genetic Testing for Management of Oligodendroglioma
Heather Dockery
Auckland Hospital
PO Box 110 031
Auckland
heatherd@adhb.govt.nz
09 307 4949 x 6396

Cytogenetics Lab LabPlus
Herceptin Therapy for Metastatic Breast Cancer
Heather Dockery
Auckland Hospital
PO Box 110 031
Auckland
heatherd@adhb.govt.nz
09 307 4949 x 6396



Waikato:

Waikato DHB
Paediatric Gait Assessment Clinic
David Clews
Orthopaedic Outpatients
Waikato Hospital
Hamilton
harrisl@waikatodhb.govt.nz
07 839 8704

Pharmacy 547
Pharmacy 547: Medication Oversight Programme
Neville Puckey & Ian McMichael
PO Box 7040
Hamilton
neville@pharmacy547.co.nz
07 839 0795

Thames High School
EARS (Education and Resources by Students)
Thames High School / WDHB
Gary Willacy
PO Box 707
Thames
archibak@waikatodhb.govt.nz
07 868 6550 x 8759


Bay of Plenty

Fiona Hewerdine
A New Model of Care – Best Practice in the Management of Motor Neuron Disease
Speech Therapy Services Bay of Plenty
Speech Language Therapy Dept, Tauranga Hospital
Cameron Road
Tauranga
Fiona.Hewerdine@bopdhb.govt.nz
07 579 8785

Healthcare Support Group
Community Support for Local Rural Health Professionals
Waihi & Waihi Beach Primary Healthcare Support Group Inc
John Watts, Chair
Forsight Optometrists
Old Post Office Building, Main Road
Katikati
watteyesite@paradise.net.nz
07 549 2939


Hawke’s Bay

The Hastings Health Centre Ltd
Integrated Primary Care: Crossing the Boundaries
Dr Michael Hewitt, Chairman
101 Queen Street East
Hastings
hayley.anderson@hhc.co.nz
06 873 8999


Wairarapa

Public Health Wairarapa DHB
Te Korowai Ora (The Cloak of Health): Kura Whanau GP
David Meates, CEO
Choice Health
24-26 Chapel St
Masterton
katarinabecker@yahoo.co.nz


Wellington/Hutt Valley

Proactive Rehab Ltd
The Crucial Step
Mark Cartman
PO Box 6074
Marion Square
Wellington
mark.cartman@proactiverehab.co.nz

KaraHand’s Charitable Trust
Shared Care: working with families to help care for a person with a ‘Diffability’
Helen Henderson
PO Box 46 017
Park Avenue
Lower Hutt
karahandds@clear.net.nz
04 567 2622

Hutt Valley DHB
Nurse Led Respiratory Clinics at Hutt Hospital
Dr Iwona Stolarek
Private Bag 31 907
Lower Hutt
iwona.stolarek@huttvalleydhb.org.nz
04 566 6999 x 8279

Te Omanga Hospice Trust
Palliative Care Nurse Specialist Educator
Mrs Biddy Harford, CEO
PO Box 30 814
Lower Hutt
ceo@teomanga.org.nz
04 566 4535

Maureen Rawson & Wendy Wilkinson
Bug Busters
Hutt Valley DHB
Bug Parade
Maureen Rawson
Private Bag 31 907
Lower Hutt
maureen.rawson@huttvalleydhb.org.nz
04 570 9405


Canterbury

Mobile Surgical Services Ltd
On the Move
Dr Stuart Gowland
PO Box 36 320
Merivale
Christchurch
maryanne@mmt.co.nz
03 355 4790

Canterbury District Health Board
A Fast System for Reporting the FM 100-hue Colour Vision Test
Assoc. Prof Mark Elder
Ophthalmology Dept, Christchurch Hospital
Private 4710
Christchurch
rudy.hidajat@cdhb.govt.nz
03 364 0640 x 89314


Southland

Gore Health Ltd
Community Wellness and Education Programme
Ralph La Salle, CEO
9 Birch Lane
Gore 9700
ralph@gorehealth.co.nz
03 208 9090 or 027 285 6323