Quality Improvement

All TDH staff, clinical leaders and managers are responsible for improving quality and participating in quality improvement initiatives and projects. 

Quality Improvement is monitored in a number of ways including:

• Patient satisfaction surveys - The Ministry of Health requires all DHBs to conduct regular patient satisfaction surveys for general hospitals and outpatient clinics, and – since July 2007 - annual surveys for Mental Health clients. Overall patient satisfaction has been high for the past 10 years. Results from surveys are used to identify opportunities for improvement and are provided to all DHB staff and managers for their information.
• New Zealand Incident Management System - The purpose of this programme is to achieve a nationally consistent approach to the management of healthcare incidents across the health and disability sector through the identification, investigation and analysis of incidents and acting upon them as (or before) they occur to minimise the change of (re)occurrence of untoward outcomes in healthcare.

The programme is intended to achieve:

• reduced harm to patients,their families/whanau and to clinicians
• a culture and environment within which patient safety is paramount and
• implementation of an information system that will support the culture and assist providers in achieving the above.

For more detail, please refer to the New Zealand Incident Management System website.

Other facets of our Continuous Quality Improvement Programme include:

• Patient/Community feedback
• Complaint management
• Voluntary and mandatory standards compliance
• Legislative compliance
• Clinical audit
• Non-clinical audit
• Policy development
• Policy document control

Your feedback is welcomed by the Quality Improvement team which is led by Director of Nursing Lynsey Bartlett