Combined team takes first steps with HealthPathways
A warm welcome from the HealthPathways Community to the combined Whanganui MidCentral NZ team, who have joined forces in an initiative by MidCentral DHB, THINK Hauora, and the Whanganui Alliance Leadership Team.
Whanganui & MidCentral Community HealthPathways first went live six months ago, sharing over 600 pathways currently in use in Canterbury with the local health community. Early use has been encouraging, with local health practitioners starting to regularly access the pathways, says HealthPathways Whanganui & MidCentral Programme Lead, Robyn Smart.
“Local GPs can already see the benefits,” she says. “They know that the pathways provide best practice guidance that they can trust.”
Now that local health practitioners have had time to assess this clinical content, the recently established team are turning their attention to the localisation process.
“Working together as two close districts not only affords a broader range of expertise to draw from with synergies of process, but helps to focus our localisation effort on the big topics that matter most to front line clinicians. Our programme of work which started early in January includes bowel cancer screening and respiratory pages. We also have a strong focus on Māori health equity and child health, and our administration team are also working on pulling together local information to get our request pages up and running as soon as possible.”
“We also really appreciate having access to shared pathway information that is very topical, such as the recent Health Alert for COVID-19,” she says.
Training Day
At a training day last November, the new group of clinical editors covered everything they need to know to begin their transition to content localisation.
“A big take-away for our team was appreciating the wealth of information that is available,” says Robyn.
“It was obvious to us that we’re joining the programme at a good time, particularly with the added benefits of the mobile-friendly platform. As we completed the training in late November, the past few months have really been about finding our feet, but it’s already clear that we have a dedicated and engaged team who understand the value HealthPathways can offer,” she says.
The Whanganui & MidCentral Community HealthPathways Operational Team
Left to Right: Jo Mair, HealthPathways Administrator, (Whanganui); Paul Cooper, Lead Clinical Editor – Whanganui & MidCentral, (MidCentral); Rick Nicholson, Clinical Editor, (Whanganui); John Drake, Clinical Editor (MidCentral); Antonia Hughes, Clinical Editor (Whanganui); Anna Eglinton, Clinical Editor (MidCentral); Kim Vardon, HealthPathways Administrator (MidCentral); Robyn Smart, HealthPathways Programme Lead (MidCentral); Andy Williams, Clinical Editor (MidCentral).
Whanganui & MidCentral Community HealthPathways Clinical Editors
Left to Right: Rick Nicholson, (Whanganui); Paul Cooper, Lead Clinical Editor – Whanganui & MidCentral (MidCentral); John Drake, (MidCentral); Antonia Hughes, (Whanganui); Anna Eglinton, (MidCentral); Andy Williams, (MidCentral).
Left to Right: Julie Nitschke (Whanganui, HealthPathways Governance Group); Justine Lancaster (3D, Regional Group Clinical Advisor); Graham McGeoch – Pathway Development Trainer (Streamliners), Debbie Davies (MidCentral, HealthPathways Governance Group).
The Streamliners Training Team
Left to Right: Rob Grover, HealthPathways Regional Group Manager; Graham McGeoch – Pathway Development Trainer (Streamliners), Sam Averis, HealthPathways Lead Writer; Cameille Ambler, HealthPathways Tools Trainer; Justine Lancaster, Regional Group Clinical Advisor; Claudia Anderson, HealthPathways Tools Trainer; (sitting) Jo Richardson, Community Success Manager.
Milestones ahead
Looking forward, the combined HealthPathways team from the Whanganui and MidCentral districts are working towards pathway milestones rather than a set date for their official launch, says Robyn.
“It’s great to have such a good team who are already meeting the challenges of serving two districts with diverse populations,” she says.
“Our clinical editors are well on their way and our group of subject matter experts are actively engaged in delivering something really tangible for local health professionals.”
Through collaborating on HealthPathways, we’re building on existing relationships and realigning our focus to ensure we get it right in our respective health communities.”
An additional benefit for joining HealthPathways when neighbouring regions were already well established was the ability to connect with subject matter experts who are already working closely with related pathways, says Robyn.
“As an example, when our cardiac patients are transferred to Wellington, we can now work alongside subject matter experts in these other areas.”
Building local engagement
For tips and resources to help you build HealthPathways engagement in your area, see Getting General Practice Engaged with HealthPathways, or Engagement and Education. These resources have been provided by members of the HealthPathways Community.