Te Hanga Whaioranga Mo Te Iwi - Building Healthy Communities

 

Newsletters from Services in the Waikato District

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September 2012 Issue     June 2012 Issue
   
    Centre 401 Trust Hamilton Residential Trust
      
      May 2012 Issue      May 2011 Newsletter

    
         

Noeline Kuru - Helping Communities Understand Mental Health

Working with Raukawa on Friday’s from 8.15am we cover many subjects in Mental Health that help our listeners who may not understand the world of Mental Health.

This year we have started with breaking down acronyms eg. what is CAT CMHC Consumer?  We also started work on the various roles and responsibilities of Mental Health workers such as Consumer advisor/advocate, Counselor Psychiatrist, Psychologist, Social workers, Stigma, Discrimination, Tangata Whai Ora, CMH nurse  and who does the work that is needed.

We have also done pieces on and around Suicide so our listeners know – what can you do if someone talking about it, what are some of the signs to look for, who Whanau can get in touch with using 0800 numbers for local services and who can work with the whanau.

We work on breaking things down for the whanau like Anxiety – what is it, what are some of the feelings that are going on with ones emotional state and helping on to understand how to work with the Te Whare Tapa Wha model, you may have the clinical side sorted but lets look at how we reconnect wellness through the corner stones.

Each week the Consumer advocate and Noeline come up with scripts that they know the everyday person might not understand in the world of Mental Health and promoting wellness and non Discrimination behaviour  by the public.  This is done by utilising statistical information and research from Mental Health and the Mason Inquiry into the mental-health services in the 1990s, resulting in the 1996 Mason Report.  This recommended a public education campaign to reduce discrimination associated with mental illness.  

We continue to get good feedback and have met a few people who we have been able to refer to the appropriate services, this has been a great privilege.

Raukawa FM Te Reo Iriranga o Raukawa 90.6 95.7 website: www.raukawafm.co.nz for more information.

 

 

Since 2009 Health Waikato Mental Health and Addictions (MH&AS) has committed to a major change programme focused on improving the way services are delivered.  The programme has sought to deliver on five key actions outlined in our strategic plan, which states Health Waikato MH&AS will:

The programme has sought to deliver on five key actions outlined in our strategic plan, which states Health Waikato MH&AS will:

This commitment to addressing our processes and systems has provided the opportunity to design a new service delivery model for adult mental health that responds to current and future challenges.

The ‘Time for Change’ project describes the planning and implementing of the adult mental health services re-design that has since 2011 included a wider focus encompassing all mental health and addictions services. 

Our goal of maintaining a skilled workforce with a focus on performance begins with leadership and ensures everyone is accountable to the success of the programme.

After a well managed planning process that included consultation with staff as well as a range of relevant stakeholders, a new model of service delivery has been developed. The model was approved to be implemented in 2012.

Two significant changes to the service involve:

  1. The new triage ‘single standardised process of entry’ and ‘identified appointment’ processes will be operationalised on Monday 21 May 2012. This ensures the same process is provided for all non-urgent adult mental health referrals. (More information below).
  2. The district will be split into two sectors (North and South) that will have equitable access to resources based on service-user population.

For more information about the programme of change please click on the link to visit www.waikatodhb.health.nz/changeandperformance and sign up the eNews to receive regular updates about the programme.

 

ACCIS Triage service will be operationalised on Monday 21 May 2012.

Several points should be noted about the ACCIS Triage Service:

Chris Huxtable is the newly appointed associate charge nurse manager for ACCIS Triage.

A new computer based system has been developed to track all referrals ensuring a timely response is provided. These eReferrals will track both the initial triage assessment and the follow up actions, meaning a clear record of each service users’ progress is available.

Please note that acute referrals will continue to be received by the Crisis Assessment Team (Ph: 0800 50 50 50 or Fax: 0800 500 105). The CAT team will continue to operate 24 hours a day 7 days a week.  The crisis line (0800 50 50 50) will be answered by the triage team during operational hours from July.

All initial assessments made via phone triage will be followed up with an identified face to face appointment if required. Where triage assessments meet the criteria for entry into adult mental health services, the triaging clinician will offer and facilitate the scheduling of an ‘identified appointment’, matching the most appropriate team and/or clinician during triage.

The integrated nature of ACCIS triage within the rest of the service will lead to improved processes and better outcomes for service users.

For more information on ACCIS Triage Service please email charge nurse manager Patrick Johnston or associate charge nurse manager Chris Huxtable:

Detailed instructions for referrers using the eReferral process will be available online once the service goes live on 21 May 2012: www.waikatodhb.health.nz/changeandperformance.

 

 

In November (2011), Health Waikato’s Mental Health and Addictions staff were asked to share their thoughts about the best way forward in terms of improving the services we provide. There was general support for the proposed changes outlined in the staff consultation document. Several key decisions have now been made, meaning we can begin the changes towards providing an improved integrated service.

This year is about to turning the work carried out last year into meaningful improvements. It will be challenging but certainly worth it as we aim to achieve the goal of helping people as they work towards their own recovery.

Service Restructure
There will be two major structural changes to Health Waikato Mental Health and Addictions Service carried out in 2012.

The first change will improve the way service users interact with the service by providing a single method of entry.

This means the same process of assessment will occur for all people presenting the need for mental health and addictions services. This initial assessment will make sure of a consistent procedure for anyone entering the service no matter where they are inWaikato.

The process named ACCIS (acute care coordination integration service) brings together the current centralised triage model with the community assertive treatment team (CATT) model. The goal is for these two teams to function together to ensure safe outcomes acrossWaikato.

The benefit of having this single entry process is that people presenting for the first time will be assessed once and provided with an appropriate response to their needs.

The second change involves the establishment of two sectors withinWaikatodistrict. The North and South sectors will have equitable access to resources based on service-user population.

The decision to form two sectors withinWaikatoresponds to the need of some rural areas that have until now had less access to resources than other areas. By linking up the rural teams and allocating them a distribution of the resources the intention is to improve this unwanted situation.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

For more detailed information about these (and other) changes, the decision document is available on our change and performance webpage. To keep up to date with all of our changes, please sign up to receive the Change and performance E-News (also on the Change and performance web page), using the following link:

www.waikatodhb.health.nz/changeandperformance

 

 

Issue 2 - November 2011

Jeff Bennett - Group Manager, Mental Health & Addictions Service

November marks an important time for the change programme. We've asked our staff to share their thoughts about our proposed plans for an improved integrated service. This involves using their feedback to make sure we get it right.

As with any change proposal, staff can provide us with a view of how things might work from their perspective, to make sure we haven't left anything out.

We' ve spent a long time developing the plans so this is an opportunity to test them before moving ahead. The great German chess player Emanuel Lasker once said, "When you see a good move, look for a better one", which I think we can identify with in this situation.

We hosted a community forum in August that involved primary, community and secondary service representatives. This was a perfect example of what can be achieved when people come together to achieve a shared vision.

The day proved there is a desire to work together for the benefit of service users and we must now start taking positive steps towards achieving our objective “to be the service people trust with their loved one's care.

Rees (Tapsell) and I hope you share our optimism as we look forward to what lies ahead for the Mental Health and Addictions Service as we work towards achieving better outcomes for all service users.

 

Home Based Treatment launched in Waikato

In August, Waikato DHB launched a new Home Based Treatment (HBT) service, which provides an alternative for people over the age of 18 who would normally be considered for admission to the Henry Bennett Rongomau Centre.

This team operates by providing treatment in a service user’s own home and supports family and/or friends to remain actively involved as part of the treatment and support plan. In situations where it is not practical to consider HBT in a service users own home, respite services may be used to provide this service.

HBT will be provided by clinicians or support workers visiting up to three times per day. Generally, it is not expected that HBT will last longer than three weeks for any one service user. However, the service may vary from person to person, depending on the individual treatment plan that is developed for each person.

The HBT service is designed at this stage to prevent admissions to hospital rather than to assist with an early discharge. However, this may change as the service develops in the future.

A feature of the service is that it is being delivered in Hamilton and Thames in partnership with Pathways Health. Mental Health and Addictions Service provide clinical services with support from Pathways.

Leading the team is Patrick Johnston and associate Chris Huxtable. Patrick and Chris are charge nurse managers for the crisis assessment and treatment team (CATT) and have plenty of experience working with people in the community.

HBT currently has capacity to work with service users who are at least 18 years old who qualify to receive the treatment so please feel free to contact them on 0800 774433 to discuss a referral.

HBT is provided between 8am-8pm every day. Outside of these hours, the service can be accessed by ringing the Mental Health line (0800 50 50 50) who will page the on call clinician provided by the CATT service.

The plan is that once the service has been established in Hamilton and Thames, it will be extended, once the staff teams are in place, to include southern Waikato.

Current Changes

Mental Health and Addictions Service staff have the opportunity throughout November to share their thoughts about the upcoming changes.

The focus of improvements are about having a clear and consistent entry into the service, a more joined up service across in-patient and community, and developing stronger relationships with primary and other organisations.

We encourage people to visit www.waikatodhb.health.nz/changeandperformance and use the dedicated email address sean.budd "at" waikatodhb.health.nz to ask any questions or raise any issues that you feel are relevant at this time.

We are committed to being clear about the changes and how they will affect service users and their family/ whanau.

 

 

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