What are the overall quarter two 2012/13 Health Target results?
Four Health Targets have been met this quarter: Improved access to elective surgery target; Shorter waits for cancer treatment; Increased immunisation; and the Better help for smokers to quit hospital target has been achieved for the first time. All other national Health Target results have improved compared with quarter one 2012/13.
How did each Health Target perform?
Shorter stays in emergency departments
National performance in the Shorter stays in emergency departments target increased by 1.8 percent to 93.3 percent this quarter with nine DHBs achieving the target of 95 percent. Quarter two results have been improving year on year with the current performance showing a 1.1 percent increase on the result for the same period last year.
Improved access to elective surgery
The Improved access to elective surgery target has been achieved this quarter with 78,731 elective surgical discharges provided, against a target of 74,799 discharges. This is 3932 (5 percent) more than planned.
Shorter waits for cancer treatment
Nationally 100 percent of patients, who were ready for treatment, received their radiotherapy and chemotherapy within four weeks of the decision to treat in the Shorter waits for cancer treatment target.
Increased immunisation
The national eight-month national immunisation coverage for the second quarter is 89 percent, a 1.9 percent increase from the previous quarter and 4 percent above the national Increased immunisation target. Fifteen DHBs exceeded the 85 percent target.
Better help for smokers to quit
The hospital component of the Better help for smokers to quit target was 94.6 percent; this is the first time the national result will be shown as achieved in published target tables (rounded to 95 percent). Twelve DHBs achieved the target.
Performance for the primary care target was 42.6 percent. Although no DHBs met the primary care target, 16 DHBs improved their performance(13 have improved their results by more than 1 percent).
More heart and diabetes checks
The national quarter one result for the More heart and diabetes check target is 55.3 percent, an increase of 3.1 percent on last quarter. Although no DHBs met the target, 19 have improved their performance (18 DHBs improved their performance by more than 1 percent from quarter one).
Why is achieving the Better help for smokers to quit target so important?
In New Zealand, tobacco smoking is the leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality. Each year approximately 5,000 New Zealanders die from a smoking-related disease, including 350 who die as a result of second hand smoke. Helping New Zealanders who smoke to stop is a leading health priority in New Zealand, which is why the government has committed to the aspirational goal of a smokefree nation by 2025.
In 2009, the Better help for smokers to quit target was introduced to encourage doctors, nurses and otherhealth professionalsto:
- routinely ask the people they see whether they smoke; and
- provide brief advice and support to quit to those whodo smoke.
Research has shown that approximately one in 40 smokers will make a quit attempt as a result of receiving brief advice from a health professional, which makes this a successful intervention when implemented on a national scale.
Unlike other Health Targets, this target started from scratch as the provision of brief advice and support to smokers to quit was not previously recorded or routinely offered. The first set of data collected on the target for the month of September 2009showed that only 17 percent of hospitalised smokers had been given brief advice and support to quit. Three and a half years later, this percentage has increased to 95 and the Health Target has been achieved.
This significant shift in practice has been achieved as a result of the commitment and consistent improvement by DHBs since 2009. DHBs have implemented a wide variety of activities to improve performance, including:
- strengthening clinical leadership for smoking cessation within wards and departments
- increasing the visibility of smoking cessation interventions
- improving the quality of smoking cessation education and training
- refining data recording, coding and documentation processes; and
- ensuring that the entire sector is dedicated to providing better help for smokers to quit regardless of what part of the hospital system they work within.
More than 400,000 hospitalised smokers have been identified since the Ministry began reporting on this target and over 300,000 of those have been offered brief advice and support to quit. Because of this success, the provision of better help to smokers to quit has been extended to the primary care sector, and to pregnant women who smoke when booking with a Lead Maternity Carer.
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