CWHS_Overview

Community women’s health clinic - learning pilot A new community women’s health service is being tested across Te Moana a Toi / Bay of Plenty to improve access to a range of intersecting specialist women’s health services, reducing health inequities and improving quality of life.

In partnership with Gynaecology Department and Pelvic Health Physiotherapy from Hauora a Toi, the Community Women's Health Clinic (CWHC) provides assessment, support, and management for a range of women’s health conditions that do not either meet elective service thresholds, do not require surgical intervention, or it is deemed more suitable for delivery in primary/community care settings. Other complementary women’s health services such as sexual and reproductive health, pregnancy assessment, support, counselling, and management are also available through the clinic.

The multi-disciplinary team comprise of Dr Jen Hall (GPwSI in Women’s Health), Kathy Le Haavre (Contraception/Gynae Nurse Specialist), alongside Emily Burmester and Claire Baker (Specialist Pelvic Health Physiotherapists).

All clients referred to the service are contacted directly by the clinical team to discuss their individual needs, with clients being seen by the clinic team within less than two weeks (on average). Clinics are currently being delivered in Te Puke and Whakatane, with additional locations under development.

The pilot provides an opportunity to co-design new models of care with active involvement of women/wāhine from across the district working alongside healthcare professionals, guided by best practice evidence. Poutiri Trust, a Te Puke based Kaupapa Māori provider, are a critical partner organisation providing facilities, equipment, and technology to the clinic team, as well as testing a direct access pathway to the clinic for wāhine Māori.

With the development of a national Women’s Strategy indicated by the Government to commence this year, the learning pilot is using a systems-thinking approach across the district to understand how health services can be organised to deliver high quality, safe, timely, efficient, and effective services across all women/wāhine life stages, beginning with menstruation and ending with menopause.

As part of the pilot, we want to hear from primary care and community care practitioners about access to these services for your population to help understand unmet needs. The survey is open until Friday 16 September 2022. Open the link to complete the online survey https://forms.office.com/r/4En8LzpPNc To get in touch with the clinic team directly, phone or Text: 027 251 6007, or email: clinic@inospire.co.nz.

A bit about the clinic team: Dr Jen Hall - GPwSI in Women’s Health During my medical training at the University of Sheffield in the UK, I completed an Intercalated BMedSci Research Degree in PCOS. On the basis of this, we published 3 journal articles and presented our findings at The European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology Conference in Lyon, France. As a postgraduate, I completed 2 rotations in Obstetrics and Gynaecology as a Senior House Officer and completed my Diploma of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (DRCOG) during this time. I qualified as a GP (MRCGP) in the UK in 2014 and have always maintained a Special Interest in Women’s Health. I attained Fellowship of the RNZCGP in 2016 after moving to NZ in October 2014. In 2017 I started working with Tautoko Mai Sexual Harm Support (Formally Bay of Plenty Sexual Assault Support Service) as a Forensic Medical Examiner for adult and adolescent survivors of sexual assault and I hold fortnightly medical clinics for clients of the service. Since late 2021, I have been the Lead Clinician for the Non-Fatal Strangulation/Suffocation Service in the BOP. I have been working for Family Planning in Tauranga since 2019 and completed the Family Planning Certificate in Contraception and Sexual Health in 2021.

I live in Papamoa with my partner Dan and our 2 Maine Coon fur-babies. Outside of medicine, I love travelling, 80s music, and walking.

Kathy Le Haavre - Contraception/Gynae Nurse Specialist After graduating nursing 33 years ago, I worked in the Gynaecology Unit at Waikato Hospital before travelling and then finding my passion in community nursing. I worked at Family Planning for over 16 years, where I coordinated the early medical termination service for 7 years.

I am an experienced LARC practitioner, and I am passionate about improving access to this service for women across the BOP. I am contracted by Te Whatu Ora Hauora a Toi to deliver LARC services, which takes me all over the Bay running free clinics for wāhine rurally where contraception consults and LARC services are harder to access. For the last three years, I have been a LARC trainer for the local BOP training programme supporting medical, nursing and midwifery professions to achieve competency in LARC insertions and removals.

I have recently worked in a Kaupapa Māori primary care clinic in the community, which has highlighted the need for improving access to health services for Māori wāhine, something I’m committed to helping achieve.