March 8, 2007

Ask a professional

I am really confused by all this talk about changes at the West Coast DHB?

The West Coast DHB has been consulting on a draft Secondary Care Plan, this plan aims to ensure the current level of service is maintained in this region.

Unfortunately there has been some confusion about what the plan entails.

The central themes of the draft plan are:

• Huge emphasis on recruiting and retaining the future workforce
• A balance between generalists and specialists in the West Coast workforce
• West Coast returning to its past role as a major training site for health professionals
• A set of relationships with other DHBs and health professionals to have more complex services delivered to the Coast on a visiting basis
• Emphasis on high quality continuums of care, with less emphasis on designation of services as primary or secondary Smaller, more efficient physical facility
• World-leading information technology platform to support this model

This plan aims to strengthen services and find new and innovative ways of delivering health care in this region.

For more information please contact
Vikki Carter
Community Liaison Officer
03 768 0499, Extn. 2665#
027 245 9595