ANZCA Bulletin June 2011 - Australian and New Zealand College of ...

New Zealand news continued
Broadband boost for healthcare services
Healthcare services will make huge gains thanks to the New Zealand Government’s
ultra-fast broadband initiative, according to the Health Minister, Tony Ryall.
Mr Ryall says ultra-fast broadband (UFB) will make the transfer of information
and services much simpler and faster.
The government awarded the fi nal two contracts for the roll-out of ultra-fast
broadband around New Zealand last month, and awarded a contract in April for
broadband in rural areas.
New Zealand Minister for Communications and Information Technology Steven
Joyce says the government has prioritised healthcare centres for the roll out.
“We know that this technology will transform healthcare in this country, so
we’ve committed to providing access to all registered healthcare centres by the
end of 2015,” he said.
While some large hospitals use fi bre, few health premises have access.
The government’s plans will see more than 6000 health premises able to
access broadband speeds of 100 Mbps plus.
Cancer patients seen sooner
Ninety nine per cent of patients ready for cancer radiation treatment were starting
treatment within four weeks, according to the latest results on the New Zealand
Government health targets.
New Zealand Health Minister Tony Ryall said that three to four years ago patients
could be waiting up to 15 weeks to start radiation treatment and many had to travel
to Australia.
“Four weeks is the gold standard worldwide for starting cancer radiation treatment.
From January to March, 99 per cent of patients started their cancer radiation
treatment within four weeks and 100 per cent started within six weeks,” Mr Ryall
said. “Right in the middle of the period we had the Canterbury earthquake, which
makes this result even more impressive. It’s a tribute to the DHBs (district health
boards), and the South Island regional cancer centres in particular.”
Another highlight of the third quarter of the 2010/11 health targets was an
increase to 89 per cent of emergency department patients admitted, discharged
or treated within six hours.
Anaesthesia
workforce review
A summary of the report from the
Anaesthesia Workforce Review has
been posted on Health Workforce
New Zealand’s website (see www.
healthworkforce.govt.nz/our-work/
workforce-service-reviews/anaesthesia).
The full report is also available on
that website.
The review report was compiled by
an Anaesthesia Resource Review Group
(ARRG) set up by the New Zealand
Society of Anaesthetists but later
widened to include ANZCA New Zealand
National Committee representation.
The group was charged with
identifying ways in which the existing
workforce can better meet increasing
demand for services with limited
resourcing.
Its key fi ndings and recommendations
included that:
• Measures to increase operating room
productivity are as necessary as
changes to the anaesthesia workforce.
• Any proposal to use allied health
professionals to complement the
physician role in anaesthesia must
not compromise quality of care or
cause disengagement of the current
anaesthesia SMO workforce, and must
be embedded in a doctor-led model.
• Better use can be made of the existing
workforce, especially across district
health board boundaries to overcome
mal-distribution.
Health Workforce New Zealand, which
funds specialist medical training in New
Zealand, is analysing the fi ndings and
says its recommendations will infl uence
investment strategy, leading to changes
in workforce training, development and
skill mix.
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ANZCA Bulletin June 2011