May 2009

Te Korowai - Whariki News

01 May 2009

The blessing for the new convention centre, Nga Wahi Akonga, was held on Monday and the keys were formally handed to Anthony de Rose on Friday.  People will be moving into the building from next Monday and the opening is scheduled for May.  Kitty Marshall, as the Learning and Development Consultant will be busy getting the systems up and running. The first photo is of Anthony with the architect Dennis Bulliment (right), and senior site staff (left).  The second photo was taken following the blessing of the building - from left Areta Koopu, Kitty Marshall, Anthony de Rose, Nigel Fairley and Kuni Shepherd.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was announced by the Mental Health Commission last week that they have appointed a new advisory group to the Commission.  The membership is -

Te Kani Kingi (Independent Chair), Elliot Bell, Monique Faleafa, Leo McIntyre, Simone Molenaar, Claire Moore, Taone O'Regan, Gavin Pilkington, Graham Roper, Lealofi Sio, Christine Taua, Hayley Theyers, Lynda Thoumine, and Robert Warriner.

Many of these names will be familiar to staff, in particular Lynda Thoumine and Elliot Bell.  I know that these people will be a great asset to the Commission and I hope that participation in this group will be rewarding and of great benefit to New Zealand's mental health services.   - Nigel Fairley, Operations Director

Nurses Conference

Diane Sadler and I did a joint presentation at the nurses conference.  We titled it "Seclusion, writing it into history".  The presentation was very well received and we have been asked to present it at Victoria University.  The Mental Health Commission also requested a copy of the presentation which has been sent off (minus our notes!) and the Te Pou were also very enthusiastic.  We will be putting a copy on the TKW website. - Lynda Thoumine

Consumer News

We still have two applications being considered by the trustees of the "Frozen Patients' Fund"  they are

1. Poetry book
2. A piece of art for conference centre.  The idea with this piece is that it be visual and written art together.  It includes a poem I wrote when I came to work at Te Korowai-Whāriki, which depicts a journey from being locked up with others holding the keys to becoming a keyholder that is able to be used to unlock the consumer voice within this service (short version).

Choir of Hope - A survey is being designed to find out numbers of interested clients.  After this takes place and numbers are known we will move towards the application of funding from the creative arts council. - Lynda Thoumine

Reportable Events

The Online Reportable Events system has been in use by the DHB for more than a year.  We are, at last, starting to get some data out of the system to assist staff to look at incidents in their area and put processes in place to minimise or prevent further events.

Here are a couple of tips for staff -

Spell check - there is a spell checker in the system.  To access this in any field where there is free text you click on the Add/Edit button.  A pop-up appears and on the Tool Bar at the top is a little symbol with a tick and ABC.  Click on that and the spell check appears.

Mandatory Fields - any field name in red is mandatory and the incident cannot be closed until these are completed.  The main ones not being completed are Location, Was 777 Called, Meets Criteria for ACC Treatment Injury? and ACC45 & ACC2152 completed?.  The system automatically reminds staff if the incident is not complete so please do not ignore this reminder.  If anyone has any questions regarding the use of this system please contact me. - Suzanne Duncan

Staff News

Congratulations to Mary Campbell who graduated from her consumer advisor course on Friday.

Recent Health & Disability Findings

Importance of accurate and contemporaneous documentation:  The nurse manager of a rest home submitted that it was "speculative" to state the standard of care was inadequate in the absence of documentation (08HDC08672) and that "it cannot be assumed that, because a medication is not recorded as having been given, it was not actually given" (08HDC10236).  However, the Deputy Commissioner noted that accurate and contemporaneous documentation is a cornerstone of good care, and that without it there is little evidence that timely and appropriate care was given: "it is through the medical record that health care providers have the power to produce definitive proof of a matter" and health professionals whose evidence is based solely on subsequent recollections may find their evidence discounted.  08HDC10236 (28 November 2008), and 08HDC08672 (11 December 2008) available at www.hdc.org.nz/complaints/opinions?recent

Privacy Commissioner

Health condition disclosed on envelope breach of privacy:  Following voluntary mental health treatment, a discharge summary was sent to a patient's home with the envelope stamped "Mental Health Inpatient Unit".  The woman, a hospital employee, was distressed that her flatmates may have seen the envelope and become aware of her mental illness.  The hospital accepted that marking the envelope as it did breached Rule 5 of the Health Information Privacy Code, which requires an agency holding health information to ensure that the information is protected against access, use, modification, or disclosure.  The hospital agreed to a financial settlement to compensate for harm caused by its actions.  Case Note 203014 [2009] NZPrivCmr 8

New edition of Health Information Privacy Code:  The Privacy Commissioner has released a new edition of the Health Information Privacy Code, with new commentary on the effect and implications of the Rules.  The new edition is available at www.privacy.org.nz/health-information-privacy-code/

Any news items that people would like included in this newsletter contact suzanne.duncan   "at" ccdhb.org.nz