Education and innovation in South Auckland health

Health Minister Tony Ryall welcomes an initiative which is bringing the health and education sectors together to jointly address South Auckland’s health workforce needs.

Counties Manukau DHB has partnered with local tertiary education providers to establish a ‘Centre for Health System Improvement and Innovation’ – named Ko Awatea.

The centre officially opened today in the grounds of Middlemore Hospital, where National MP Dr Paul Hutchison spoke on behalf of Health Minister Tony Ryall.

“This government is committed to ensuring that health services are responsive to the actual needs of the communities they serve,” Tony Ryall said.

“What’s happening now in South Auckland reflects one response to that – a DHB working directly with institutions like AUT, Auckland University and the Manukau Institute of Technology, which train tomorrow’s health professionals.

“By working together, clinicians and trainers can produce the type of workforce the local district really needs. In South Auckland this includes a rapidly growing population with a high birth rate, ethnic diversity and high rates of chronic diseases such as diabetes.

“Ko Awatea creates a place for action, with academics getting a chance to input on approaches to care delivery, while simultaneously taking away lessons about how training can be improved.

“This benefits the health system, the education providers and the trainees themselves, who will graduate with skills which are closely aligned with the real world of clinical practice in the region where many of them will subsequently work.

“Ko Awatea will provide the resources and leadership to help turn good ideas into a reality,” Tony Ryall said.

Today’s official launch is timed to coincide with the start of a three-day international forum on health innovation and improvement. The event, hosted at Ko Awatea, is being attended by more than 100 experts in the field – mostly from the Asia-Pacific region, but including speakers from as far afield as the Institute of Healthcare Improvement (in Massachusetts, USA) and the Oxford Centre for Healthcare Transformation (in the UK).