Whānau receive high-quality, equitable & culturally safe diabetes care Focus area 6: Diabetes care is supported by strong leadership and accountability Strong leadership and governance are needed at all levels of the health system to support greater collective impact. This must include strong Māori and Pacific leadership and representation to support the health system to uphold our obligations to Te Tiriti and address inequities. Clinical leaders have a key role in driving quality improvement across multidisciplinary teams. DHBs have identified variability in the functioning and effectiveness of their local diabetes teams. This has made it difficult for clinical leaders to deliver the care they know whānau need. Local and regional diabetes teams need to be empowered and resourced to support ongoing quality improvement. The Quality Standards for Diabetes Care 2020 outline what effective diabetes care looks like in Aotearoa New Zealand. A review in 2021 highlighted the need to strengthen the implementation of these Quality Standards. This will drive improved consistency in the quality of diabetes services across the country. Strong leadership is underpinned by comprehensive, accessible information to support the delivery of quality care across the patient journey. Better information supports empowered decision-making, not just for clinicians and policy makers, but also for whānau.
Focus area 7: Diabetes care is delivered by a strong, culturally competent and clinically safe workforce The diabetes workforce comprises a large multidisciplinary team spanning the health continuum and service providers. Diabetes services need to be structured to provide care in a holistic, clinically safe, collaborative and coordinated way. This is challenging given the wide variation in capacity across the country and current workforce pressures due to COVID-19. There is a need to:
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grow and support ongoing development of the Māori and Pacific diabetes workforce
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reduce variation in access to endocrinologists, diabetes nurse specialists, podiatrists, and specialist diabetes dietitians across Aotearoa New Zealand12
Diabetes Workforce Service Review, 2011, Ministry of Health DRAFT DIABETES ACTION PLAN 2022-2027 V1.5
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