Programme results in more staff/patient time

  • Jonathan Coleman
Health

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman says health staff are spending more time with patients as a result of an innovative quality improvement programme.

“Hospital teams are increasingly taking up the Productive Ward - Releasing Time To Care programme which enables staff to change the way they work so they can spend more time looking after patients,” says Dr Coleman.

“13 DHBs are using the Releasing Time To Care quality improvement programme to support local initiatives for improving patient care.”

In Canterbury DHB, the programme has been rolled out to all 30 wards over the past year, with a focus on preparing staff for the move into new facilities in Burwood Hospital next year and in Christchurch Hospital in 2018.

Staff developed an iPad App, iCODA, to observe how they work and track how much of a shift was spent on direct patient care. 

“The App provided valuable data and generated discussions at ward level about the significance of time spent with patients,” says Dr Coleman.

“Christchurch wards reported a big drop in the number of times nurses are interrupted during a shift, ensuring they are more focused and efficient.

“As the process has been driven by staff, these changes are more likely to be sustained.”

Bay of Plenty was one of the first DHB’s to start the programme, extending it from wards to theatres and community services. When it was introduced the average time nurses spent on direct care was 32 per cent per shift. This has increased to 44 per cent for the last quarter to September 2015.

“This translates to an additional hour for every nurse per shift. Multiplied by 10-12 nurses on a ward per day over 12 wards, means that 42,000 more hours each year are spent directly on patients’ needs,” says Dr Coleman.

18 DHBs are implementing the Productive Series programmes including the Productive Ward, the Productive Mental Health Ward, the Productive Community Services, and the Productive Operating Theatre.

The programmes guide staff to review and change the way they work, and help to deliver cost and time savings, and improve quality of care and staff morale.