Connect+ June 2017

A COUNTIES MANUKAU HEALTH PUBLICATION | JUNE 2017

In this issue POLITICAL NEUTRALITY

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ACCESS  CAMPAIGN

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MEET OUR RECYCLING NINJA’S

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Contents June 2017 1

From the Acting CEO

2

Special mention

3

Privacy - It's about people

3

Political Neutrality

4

Flu Fighter update

5,6

Access 365 Campaign

7

Beating the winter blues

8

Introducing Tevita Havea

9

Meet our Recycling Ninjas

10

Middlemore Foundation - more questions than answers

11

Social Media - Follow us on social and keep up to date with what’s going on!

FROM THE CEO

Welcome to the June issue of Connect+ The colder months are upon us, it’s starting to get dark early and winter illnesses make an unwanted appearance.

Our organisation is also experiencing additional demands and with the hospital and our colleagues in primary care running on full capacity, staff from across our health system are frequently called upon to work together to provide patients with quality care and attention.

We are not alone in facing the challenges of high demand for our services. Our colleagues who work at Auckland and Waitemata DHBs are also working to capacity more frequently and given the pressures we are all facing, we need to ensure that our priorities are focussed on activities which are of direct benefit to the people we serve.

Busy workloads and winter demands can also test our resilience, stress levels and morale, so please take some time out to look after yourself, whether that’s taking a walk, exercising or just hanging out with family and friends. This can do wonders for your physical and mental wellbeing.

COVER PHOTO: Meet our two recycling ninjas Renali and Kaleb. See more details about our recycling ninjas on Page 9.

Connect+ is produced by Counties Manukau Health. If you have something to share or would like Connect + delivered straight to your inbox please contact communications@middlemore.co.nz Sign up to our eUpdate at eepurl.com/bWGr0z EDITOR IN CHIEF: Janet Haley | EDITOR: Stacy Superfine

This issue of Connect+ includes some tips and information about keeping well this winter and profiles our staff and the work they do. As always under times of increased pressure, the culture at CM Health has an unwavering focus on continuing to provide a high quality service, regardless of what may be happening at the time.

Thank you for continuing to do the best you can for our patients and for the people who live in our community. It is very much appreciated.

Gloria Johnson Acting Chief Executive

Special Mention

ROBYNNE AND HER DEDICATED TEAM

Walking into the Papakura Maternity Unit (PMU) you get a sense of kotahitanga or togetherness which comes from the dedicated staff and culture that Charge Midwife/Manager Robynne and her team have created.

Robynne’s passion to make a difference in her community began at the age of 18 where she worked as an Enrolled Nurse.

She then went on to become a Midwife.

Having been part of the team at PMU since 2000, it now feels like home.

“ I couldn’t imagine working anywhere else.

It’s like a family.”

Robynne has a number of whaanau who work with her and share the same passion for looking after expectant mums at this very intimate and special time of their lives. “We work hard to provide excellent care, and have women return time after time knowing they’re going to be safe.

"Working as a Midwife in the community is great. I love being able to see families out in the community with their babies."

Robynne also enjoys working with students.

“I take one or two of them under my wing and I don’t mind spending the time or sharing my knowledge to help them grow.”

Thanks Robynne and team for supporting our mums-to-be and their whaanau.

PATIENT WHAANAU

k c a b d f ason e r ly in g re “Th e u n d th e ratin g is 0 1 / 0 1 y fo r m a ll titu d e o f t a g in d n o utsta s to w il li n g n e s staff. Th e u nt. a s pa ra m o w n e t s li d e e p ly in g in ndescend o c s a w y Nobod o n s e s .” th e ir re s p

ati on “Ev ery one rei ter ate d the inf orm ha d giv en and alw ay s as ked if we qu est ion s. Ev en wh en we we re ove rw hel me d the y und ers too d and rep eat ed the inf orm ati on. ”

“Before and after my operation every detail was explained to me.

Absolutely every question was answered in a way that made me feel comfortable and relaxed.”

COUNTIES MANUKAU HEALTH | 2

Privacy: It’s about people Privacy is about you having the right to manage your personal information in a way that is comfortable to you. It is about understanding that when you share your information, that the individual collecting it will keep it safe, will protect it in an appropriate manner and only share it in line with the purpose for which it was collected.

Information has become more valuable in recent times and can be used for other purposes such as marketing and in extreme cases activities relating to cyber-crime and fraud. You need to protect it and only share it with individuals that you trust.

Kerry Bakkerus, Risk & Privacy Manager for CM Health, is our Privacy Officer and is responsible to ensure that CM Health has appropriate processes in place to protect the information that is entrusted to us by staff, patients, contractors, students and visitors.

A few tips to ensure that you keep your information safe.

• Don’t click on links in emails from unknown people – this is how viruses are sent to corrupt your computer and retrieve personal information.

• Ensure that your computer has a good level of security and make sure that your password is changed regularly and is complex.

• Don’t share your password or banking codes/ pin. Your bank will never phone you to ask you to reveal these.

• Other information which has increasing importance is your email address; driver’s license and contact telephone numbers.

• If you are on social media, review your privacy security settings – ensure that these are appropriate – individuals use this information to clone your identity for purposes of defrauding you.

POLITICAL NEUTRALITY You may already be preparing to vote in the election, but are you aware of your role and responsibilities working for a publically funded organisation?

As a publically-funded organisation, employees of CM Health are considered ‘State Servants’. This means we are expected to do our jobs professionally and without publically favouring one political party over another at work. We need to take particular care in the lead-up to, during, and immediately after, an election. During this time there may be more media interest and increased public attention on publically-funded organisations than at other times.  | CONNECT + JUNE 2017

Kerry Bakkerus

Key things for you to be aware of : • You have the same rights of political expression outside the workplace as ordinary members of the public, however you need to be politically neutral at work • You must not campaign for a party or a candidate at work • If your job involves speaking publicly, you must avoid showing any political bias for or against particular political parties or their policies • Work premises or resources cannot be used for party political purposes, this includes displaying posters, wearing political badges at work, or hosting meetings • You should not provide your work contact details to political organisations, or receive political party material on your work email.

You can find out more information including guidance on the distinction between your rights as an individual and your responsibilities as an employee on SouthNET.

The Flu Fighter campaign has been running for a few weeks now and our temperature gauge shows that 4,434 staff havebeen vaccinated against influenza – thats’ 65% of our workforce (as at 22 June). Our aim this year is 70%, so if you haven’t had the flu vaccine, please take advantage of the options below.

100 %

90 % • Call OH&S on extension 8142 and book an appointment • There may be a vaccinator working in an area close to you.

Go to SouthNET/Flu Fighter to find out who is close.

80 % 2017 Target

70 %

• If you work after hours or weekends at Middlemore Hospital, take five minutes to pop up to Middlemore Central who are operating a drop in clinic.

60 %

• If you have already had the flu v accine from your GP o r local Pharmacy, OH&S still need to hear from you.

Please call 8142 or email: jane.heasman@middlemore.co.nz

50 % 40 %

Flu Fighter

30 % 20 %

TOP VACCINATOR:

Helen Bretherton, Charge Nurse Ward 34

HIGH PERFORMING AREAS:

There are many high performing areas and we would like to thank all of our peer vaccinators for doing a superb job.

While there are too many areas to mention, we would like to single out Ward 33 East for vaccinating 100% of their staff two years in a row. Well done!

10 %

CURRENT FLU FIGHTER CHAMPIONS

BY WORKFORCE:

Nurses are leading the charge at 69% with Allied Health close behind at 68%. Doctors have slipped back into third place on 67%. It’s too close to call, so if you haven’t had your flu vaccination, do it for your team.

MOST IMPROVED UPTAKE FROM LAST YEAR:

% of staff immunised

Well done to Ward 1 who has jumped from 55% in 2016 to 75% of staff vaccinated in 2017!

Well done to all our Flu Fighters!

COUNTIES MANUKAU HEALTH | 

Access 365 Campaign The right care for our communities It’s that time of the year when winter not only brings the chilly weather, but also the dreaded cold and other illnesses. Middlemore Hospital’s Emergency Department (ED) can get very busy during this period. Therefore communicating to whaanau on the right health care options available to them in the community is vitally important.

This year’s winter wellness campaign has now evolved into Access 365. We want our communities to know the best place to go when they are sick or injured not only through the winter months, but all year round.

Auckland University fourth year population health student Ashleigh Marinovich talking to the community at the Manurewa Netball Courts as part of the student programme with the Counties Manukau Health Manukau Locality team. The work Ashleigh and three other population health students did within this programme helped to support the work on the Access 365 campaign.

We want to encourage whaanau to go see their family doctor in the first instance when they’re sick. If they’re unsure on where to go, people can ring Healthline and talk to a registered nurse for advice. If whaanau need urgent care and their doctor is closed, their local Accident and Medical (A&M) clinic is there to help. But we also still want to encourage those in our communities who have life threatening illnesses to come into ED. Over the next few months, the campaign will be promoted across social media and local media, as well as promotional materials out in the community. Check out the Healthy Together Facebook page for updates: https://www. facebook.com/healthytogetherCMH/

For more information on Access 365, please visit the CM Health website: www.countiesmanukau.health.nz

The right care for you

Keep well for you, your whaanau and for your community v

Family doctor

Healthline

See your family doctor for all non-urgent health concerns.

Call 0800 611 116 for free health advice from a nurse.

 | CONNECT + JUNE 2017

Accident and Medical (A&M)

Hospital

If it’s a life threatening If your family doctor emergency call 111. is not available, go to your nearest A&M clinic.

KNOW WHERE TO GO:

countiesmanukau.health.nz

nz

Get to know the team What is your role at Counties Manukau Health?

I’m the Project Development Manager for the Manukau Locality for CM Health. I work on projects that support the development of the Manukau area, such as working with community groups and health care providers, supporting integrated health care services in the area, community engagement around new services, and promotional campaigns like Access 365 (formerly known as the Winter Wellness campaign).

What is your involvement in the Access 365 campaign?

I’ve been involved in the Winter Wellness campaign (now known as the Access 365 campaign) for the last three years. The campaign has evolved from only having a Winter Wellness brochure for the Winter period only, to having a more targeted approach with a number of initiatives taking place across all of the localities.

For example for us last year, the focus was on the community in Manurewa as they had the highest percentage of admissions to Middlemore Hospital ED for the Manukau area. The Manukau Locality team distributed large numbers of resources across Manukau, as well as working with local general practices (GPs), pharmacies, non-governmental organisations, schools, and other community organisations to spread the word on what services are available in their communities. We even worked with businesses such as the local Warehouse.

Why is the Access 365 campaign so important for the community?

We know from a number of surveys we’ve done with our communities that there is a lack of understanding of what health care services are available to them. For example Healthline, or if they want to find the closest doctor to where they live they can search for one on the Healthpoint website.

It’s about encouraging our communities to contact their family doctor as the first point of call when they are sick. A lot of people aren’t aware that there may be low cost health care options available to them.

What is your involvement of the evolution of this campaign?

This year we had four students from the School of Population Health (The University of Auckland) do a placement with us.

Part of the work they did was help test the understanding of health messages in our community by surveying people at local events, sport fields, libraries, and the Westfield mall in Manukau. Some of the findings from the survey were very interesting, for example, many people didn’t understand the meaning of the word ‘jab’ in flu jab. They associated this word with boxing, not getting the influenza vaccination.

The work we’ve done on this campaign over the last few years has helped grow our engagement with the community and have a much closer relationship with local organisations.

This year we’re hoping to continue to strengthen this engagement so we can better inform people on what health care options are available to them in their community.

Kaye

Dennison

Project Development Manager Manukau Locality Started in April 2014 COUNTIES MANUKAU HEALTH | 

Beating the

W in ter Blues Winter is here and at this time of year it’s not uncommon for people to start feeling a little blah!

With shorter days and colder temperatures, it’s tempting to spend your time snuggled up inside but often these cold nights and mornings turn into beautiful days.

Because we are less outdoors in the colder months, we get less exposure to light and this can lower our mood and make us feel a bit down! So if you and your whaanau can get outside at some point in the day for a walk, a visit to the park or even just a sit down in the sun (10 minutes is all you need), you’ll be helping to keep yourself mentally, emotionally and physically well over winter.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) Some people are more affected by the change in seasons than others and this can be attributed to Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). SAD, commonly known as the winter blues is also caused by a lack of sunlight, not cold temperatures.

Symptoms usually build up slowly as days start getting shorter, and gradually subside in early spring, as the amount of sunlight each day rises.

It is estimated that 10% of the population can be affected by SAD and typical symptoms include: •• Change in sleep patterns, particularly difficulty waking or reduced quality of sleep •• Changes in eating habits, particularly weight gain and craving sweet or starchy foods •• Depressed mood and irritability •• Lower energy levels •• Less time spent socialising with your family and friends •• Decreased concentration •• A lack of enthusiasm for the things you usually enjoy.

There are things you can do to help keep the blues at bay: 1. Recognise the problem as early as possible 2. Get more light either by spending time outside or investing in a light box.

Light treatment has been shown in many studies around the world to be effective in alleviating or completely curing the effects of SAD. 3. Get up early and keep busy 4. Get moving 5. Improve your diet 6. Meditate 7. See your family doctor if your low mood is significantly disrupting your personal or work life, or you are very unhappy.

7 | CONNECT + JUNE 2017

Introducing

Tevita Havea from the Consumer Council I’m a relatively new comer to the Consumer Council, however I’ve always wanted to be a part of a group who are passionate about making a difference to the people in their communities.

I moved from Tonga to Mangere eight years ago and over the years have become very involved with my Pacific community. I love the diversity and richness of the people who live here, however when it comes to looking after our health and accessing health services early, we need to raise awareness among our Pacific and Maaori communities.

hoping it will pass. Some families also rely on traditional healing methods, and while they may have a place, it needs to be balanced with conventional medicine.

What I’d like to do is raise awareness of the importance of health checks. By going to the doctor early, people can get well sooner and avoid spending time in hospital. However I truly believe to fully understand a person you need to understand their culture. That’s the first step in helping to change minds and behaviour.

Tevita Havea

Unfortunately I hear of a lot of cases of people who wait too long to see their family doctor. The reasons vary from not wanting to bother people to just putting up with it,

CM Health recently held a “What matters to you?” Day to encourage and support more meaningful conversations between people, families and carers who provide and receive health and social care services.

By asking ourselves and our patients ‘what matters to you’ we can improve health and social care by gaining a better understanding of the things that are really important in people’s lives.

Thanks to everyone who participated. We are currently collating all of the feedback and will report back on what truly matters to our staff, patients and their whaanau.

“He aha te mea nui ote ao?”

“What is the greatest thing in the world?”

“He tagata, he tagata, he tagata!”

“It is people, it is people, it is people!”

32 teams/units participated in the day and 188 conversations were had across CM Health with patients, staff and consumers.

What matters to you?

“Being listened to, having everything explained well and knowing what is happening, every step of the way”-Patient “Bad days become good days with just one gesture; it means a lot when feeling unwell”-Patient “Compliments, kind smiles, positive feedback from staff patients and whaanau”- Staff

“What matters to you?” Day started in Norway in 2014.

For more information go to www.whatmatterstoyou.scot COUNTIES MANUKAU HEALTH | 

Meet our new

Recycling Ninjas Renali and Kaleb recently joined CM Health as our new recycling ninjas and are passionate about reducing waste and saving our planet one recycling bin at a time. Keep an eye out for their red shirts as they come to your areas to swap out your recycling bins and give you friendly advice about the contents of your recycling bins.

Feel free to ask them any questions you may have. When you have some time, visit the Recycling tips webpage on the Environmental Sustainability website which provides a short summary of what can be recycled and how to become the best recycler. You can also visit the Auckland Council website to find out more. Be mindful when you recycle as your actions count!

REDUCING WASTE You can make a difference by doing a few simple things each day.

TIP  Purchasing and using a reusable coffee cup and water bottle takes our waste problem away instantaneously.

TIP  Cut down on the amount of processed and packaged food and unnatural ingredients that you purchase. In doing so, you will have less waste to deal with and you will be a lot healthier as a result.

TIP  Only put clean waste into your recycling bins, that way, the bins smell nice, the bugs stay away and the planet smiles.

TIP  Connect your actions to outcomes and really think about what you do and how you do things.

TIP  Being mindful and considerate about the environment means that every piece of litter you see on the streets suddenly becomes yours and everyone’s problem. Be a tidy Kiwi and get engaged.

TIP  Most importantly- have fun! Embrace this way of life as a positive and meaningful challenge.

Set yourself a goal, such as having zero waste for one day? Or leaving the car at home for one day? Then try repeating the process every week or month.

Renali (left) and Kaleb  | CONNECT + JUNE 2017

More Questions than Answers...

Coming up with answers for people’s problems is all in a day’s work at the Middlemore Foundation.

It’s the night’s that are the problem.

That’s when the “Quiz Night” conundrum is at its worst.

"No matter how often Foundation teams are entered, we have still yet to secure bragging rights,” says the Foundation’s David Kemeys.

“We’ve failed to trouble the scorers at more than a few Rotary nights, and the big one, the Countdown Kids’ Hospital Appeal event, well …. let’s just say we have yet to secure bragging rights.”

The Countdown Kids’ Hospital Appeal launches in August this year, with the Foundation appealing for support for the Kidz First Emergency Department redevelopment.

?

“There is no doubt Countdown has been, and is, one of our most important supporters. There is virtually no area of the hospital untouched by its generosity,” David says.

If there are any budding masterminds out there, keep an eye on the Daily Dose for the call for teams.

Staff enjoy quiz night!

Schools are on holiday this July.

If you and your whaanau are heading away these school holidays make sure you take extra care on our roads, and have fun!

COUNTIES MANUKAU HEALTH | 10

Congratulations to our Rainbow Volunteers for being recognised at the Minister of Health Volunteer Awards.

Pictured are some of our lovely Rainbow Volunteers Lauren, Bobbie and Esther.

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