Overview
News in brief
Tauranga Hospital welcomes Neurologist Dr James Cleland.
James will be working alongside Dr Andrew Chancellor at
Tauranga Hospital. James trained in medicine in NZ, then in
Neurology in the US where he was an academic Neurologist in
Rochester NY (2004-2006). He then moved back to NZ to be
Specialist Neurologist at Waikato Hospital (2006-2010), and
more recently Auckland City and Middlemore Hospitals (2010-
2018). James wife Allison King, also a Neurologist, has worked
as a locum in Tauranga intermittently since 2015. The couple
has two teenage children, and the family enjoys travelling,
skiing, and fishing.
Guest Editorial
Martin Chadwick, Executive Director of Allied
Health, Scientific and Technical.
While Helen has been tied up with national
work, she has asked me to contribute to this
edition of Checkup. As still somewhat of a
newbie it is heartening to read the stories in
this issue.
I was delighted to read and see the photos of school children
and the wider Ōpōtiki community getting right behind ‘Purple
up Day’ keeping the spotlight on Rheumatic Fever (RF) and
the importance of getting those sore throats checked. We’ve
set ourselves a target of reducing RF in our region by two-
thirds. I’m really hopeful that with the new free throat swabbing
service provided by pharmacies, coupled with our school
based and community services that will be a reality and soon.
As this issue of Checkup goes to print, contingency planning is
well underway with potential strike action by NZNO members
on 5 July and 12 July.
We are extremely concerned about this and are working hard
to find a solution. We respect the right of NZNO members
to take industrial action. Nurses, midwives and health care
assistants are a highly respected and valued part of the
modern team-based approach to health services.
Many of you have been working tirelessly on contingency
planning which will mean significant changes to our normal
hospital services. I want to take this opportunity to thank
you all. I know an enormous effort is involved on top of your
existing workloads. Our aim is to keep everyone safe during
any potential strike – patients and staff alike. All of this has
only reinforced my belief that this is a wonderful place to work,
with amazing people. Thank you again.
Nga manaakitanga
Troy and Flight Nurse Choninneach MacDonald “Mac”, about to head off on
the chopper’s first mission, transporting a cardiac patient from Whakatāne to
Waikato Hospital for urgent treatment.
In May the new rescue chopper landed at the DHB. The larger
twin-engine BK117 helicopter replaces the single-engine Squirrel
that has served the region for the last 18 years.
Surgical Services Medical Leader Troy Browne says the BK 117
has a larger internal capacity, making it easier to treat patients
and being twin-engine it can fly safely over built up areas at low
altitudes.
Tauranga Hospital
Physiotherapist Rob
Hall and Occupational
Therapist Laura Squires
provided a poster
presentation at the
Allied Health, Scientific
and Technical (AHS&T)
Conference held in
Wellington last month.
The duo presented on the
PARIS (Patients At Risk
of Increased Stay) team.
The interdisciplinary
team was set up as part
of a wider programme to
improve care particularly for frail elderly patients at
Tauranga Hospital.
Martin
Teams of staff at the DHB joined the rest of the country hosting
Pink Ribbon events raising money for breast cancer research.
Our front cover features children from Ashbrook School
in Ōpōtiki.
2
Tauranga Hospital’s Te Whare Maiangiangi (Adult Inpatient
Mental Health unit) held a Pink Ribbon Brunch raising $320
while a Pink Ribbon event organised by Tauranga Hospital
Theatre nurse Julie Fairhurst raised $800.