CE update - October 2019

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CE update News and views about our health from

OCTOBER 2019 Waikato DHB Chief Executive Dr Kevin Snee

This month we have seen the announcement of our new mental health facility which will be a significant investment in improving care for our patients. We also continue to work hard on delivering our budget and October sees another improvement in results for our finances. We are now only $500k behind plan. The two are linked because the availability of capital nationally is linked to improved financial performance within the sector and locally if our performance is worse than plan this could lead to a reduction in capital being made available; the capital investment is significant and has been set at $100 million. It was great to have the Prime Minister and Health Minister visit to tell us this news.

$100 million for new mental health facility Government recently approved funding for a new acute mental health facility for Waikato which will provide better care and support to people with mental health and addiction issues. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Health Minister Dr David Clark announced the $100 million project to replace the aging Henry Rongomau Bennett Centre during a visit to Hamilton on 17 October. We are heartened by this announcement that will be a significant financial PĹ?whiri for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Health Minister Dr David Clark investment for the new facility. The current Henry Rongomau Bennett Centre is no longer fit for purpose. It is outdated and does not provide the right environment to support a focus on recovery and mental wellbeing for patients, despite the hard work by dedicated staff. A number of independent inspections and reviews found the current facilities do not meet standards of privacy, security and safety. The reviews also highlighted the challenges for staff when providing care to service users who are acutely unwell. In addition, consideration is being given as part of a phase 2 development to extend the Midland Regional Puawai Henry Rongomau Bennett Centre inpatient facility to meet the New Zealand Corrections Increased Capacity Programme (including the Waikeria Prison 100 bed mental health hub 2022).

Healthy people. Excellent care

The number of beds required will be better defined once the Waikeria Model of Care work has been completed. Principles of co-design are integral to these developments. Input from service users, whÄ nau, MÄ ori, and staff so far have emphasised the need to ensure an environment and approach that is culturally based with a core focus on recovery and wellbeing. While we plan for the new facility, Henry Rongomau Bennett Centre has recently opened a new 7-bed rehabilitation and reintegration unit (Ward 41) that will support people who no longer need to be in an acute ward, but still are experiencing other barriers to safe discharge. They will stay in the ward to facilitate their reintegration into the community. This will help the service right now to better manage the high occupancy and demand of our acute inpatient services.


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CE update - October 2019 by Health NZ - Waikato - Issuu