Health Targets: 2011/12 - 1st Quarter
There are six priority targets published every three months nationally and regionally by the Ministry of Health and DHBs. The targets are published via local newspapers and DHB websites.
MidCentral DHB Health Targets
The MidCentral DHB 20011/12 1st Quarter Health Target report is available to download (140KB PDF). Previous quarterly reports are also available.
MidCentral DHB has made further progress toward achieving the six national Health Targets in the first quarter (July to September 2011), compared to the previous quarter’s results.
The Six Health Targets
Specific information about each individual health target is available:
The MidCentral DHB 20011/12 1st Quarter Health Target report is available to download (140KB PDF).
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Shorter Stays in Emergency Departments:
Target - 95% of people presenting to the Emergency Department are admitted, discharged or transferred within six hours. Quarter 1 result: 84%.
The proportion of people who had shorter stays in the Emergency Department (ED) at Palmerston North Hospital decreased to 84% in the July-September quarter (87% in the previous quarter). Like other DHBs, this result reflected the higher volume of patients presenting to the ED and the pressure on hospital services over the winter months.
Although the number of people who were admitted, discharged or transferred within six hours was higher (8348 compared to 8256 last quarter), there were 425 more who presented to ED, with a total of 9965 presentations in the period.
MidCentral Health is embarking upon a number of strategies that will help toward meeting this health target.
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Improved Access to Elective Surgery:
Target - The volume of elective surgery will be increased by a minimum of 211 discharges by the end of June 2012 (target of 5928 for the year). Quarter 1 result: 107.6%
A total of 1718 people in MidCentral’s district were discharged from hospital after an elective surgical procedure - 122 (7.6%) more people than planned having surgery over this period. Of the 1718 people discharged, 13% (224) had their surgery completed by other hospitals, mainly in the central region, for specialised surgery for cardiac conditions or plastic surgery.
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Shorter Waits for Cancer Treatment:
Target - Everyone needing radiation treatment will have this within four weeks, from January 2011. Quarter 1 result: 100%
MidCentral continues to achieve this target. During the quarter 265 patient treatments provided by the Regional Cancer Treatment Service at Palmerston North Hospital were within four weeks of the patient’s first specialist assessment. While there were some patients who elected to defer their treatment start dates for personal reasons, or who were having other clinical treatment at the time, no treatment delays occurred because of facility or resource constraints on the Cancer Centre.
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Increased Immunisation for two-year-olds:
Target - By July 2012, 95% of two-year-old children are fully immunised. Quarter 1 result: 93.0%. The target has increased this year to 95% (90% in 2010/11).
MidCentral is making excellent progress toward this higher target this quarter with more children being immunised. For the three months 575 of 618 (93%) eligible two-year-old children had been fully immunised. This is a further increase on the result for the previous quarter (92%). The steady increase in the result reflects the ongoing efforts and collaborative work of a range of people who continue to work with communities to ensure families have opportunities to access immunisation services.
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Better Help for Smokers to Quit:
Target - By July 2012, 95% of hospitalised smokers will be provided with advice and help to quit. Quarter 1 result: 88.5%. The target has increased this year to 95% (90% in 2010/11).
Just over 16% of adult patients who were admitted to hospital over the three months were identified as smokers. Of these, 88.5% (1165) were offered advice and help to quit smoking. This is a further improvement from the previous quarter (85%) and represents another 100 patients who were offered advice to quit. MidCentral’s rate is just above the rate for all District Health Boards.
Although not reported with this result, this health target is now extended to primary health care services too. General practice teams need to achieve a target of 90% of the people they see in their practices who smoke tobacco, being offered advice and help to quit. Provisional data suggests we have a long way to go yet before the primary care target is achieved, so we need your help to help you quit smoking. If you are attending your GP or primary health care provider, please make sure you let the staff know that you want help to stop smoking – there are a range of services available to assist.
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Better Diabetes and Cardiovascular Services:
Target - Combined average score for three indicators – increased percent of people with diabetes attend free annual checks, increased percent of people with diabetes have satisfactory or better management, and, increased percent of adult population have had their cardiovascular disease risk assessed in the last five years. Quarter 1 result: 76%.
MidCentral’s result for the combined average score of the three indicators is a slight reduction on the result for last quarter (77%), although it remains above the national average rate for all District Health Boards (70%). Data reported for this measure is lagged by three months (i.e. for this report the result refers to the April – June quarter.
An extra 124 people had their free annual check for diabetes during this period compared to the previous quarter – a total of 1269 people. Of these, 72% had their diabetes in good control (as measured by their average blood glucose levels) at the time of the check – slightly better than the national rate, but not to our local target. The number of people having their risk assessments for cardiovascular disease (CVD), as measured by the proportion that have had their laboratory tests for lipids and glucose and/or HBA1c completed in the last five years, has fallen compared to previous quarters. This may be related to some laboratory data integration issues between systems, which we are investigating, as the reported CVD risk assessments completed by general practice teams are increasing. It is also worth noting the national target for CVD risk assessments increased to 90% from July 2011, which no DHB has achieved yet. MidCentral’s rate reported for this period was 78.4%.
The DHB continues to see the assessment and management of diabetes and cardiovascular disease as a priority, as is working with the general practice teams to help improve and increase activities to help toward this priority and achieve the health target.
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Last Updated 27/02/2012