Strategic Direction
South Canterbury DHB’s strategic direction is discussed in depth in our 10-year South Canterbury Health Services Plan. This plan was signed by the board in July, 2011.
It replaces South Canterbury DHB's former Strategic Plan, made obsolete by legislative changes. It will guide service development and strategic direction locally over the next decade while also responding to regional and national initiatives.
The new plan outlines a series of priorities for South Canterbury DHB. These are:
- prevention and early intervention,
- ensuring a resilient primary care sector,
- achieving seamless patient flow,
- becoming a centre of excellence for older persons care, and
- offering the best hospital services.
Investment in hospital and community facilities will be needed over the next decade, workforce pressures are evident and the fiscal outlook is certainly challenging. The Health Service Plan, while deliberately not being overly prescriptive, gives us the necessary strategic focus and outlines our priorities for the future.
The plan was prepared over the six months on the basis of interviews and workshops with a range of clinical and management staff from across health services in South Canterbury. Health professionals and community leaders, both within and outside services operated by SCDHB were consulted.
Future trends for health services in South Canterbury were forecast.
In primary care, a number of GPs will retire in the next decade and will need to be replaced.
The number of general practice visits is projected to increase modestly overall. There will be more GP consultations for the elderly, but this will be offset by a decrease in consultations in other age groups (particularly those aged 15-24 and 45-64, whose population is expected to decline in South Canterbury).
The number and cost of prescriptions used by South Canterbury people is expected to increase, due to the more complex health needs of an aging population.
At Timaru Hospital, the number of patient discharges overall is expected to increase by 13.6% over the next 15 years, with increases felt particularly in AT&R (the rehabilitation of older patients), ophthalmology (the treatment of eye disease), general medicine and general surgery. A number of services are expected to see a decline in demand, including paediatrics (child health), maternity (births) and gynaecology (women's health).
Aged residential care services in South Canterbury show a substantial increase in demand over the next 15 years, ranging from a 56% increase in dementia bed days, to a 71% increase in rest home level bed days. This will provide a substantial challenge to the district health board.
What does the plan identify as SCDHB's strengths?
A high level of access to consultant services;Clinical leadership models are developing;Low staff turnover;Financial stability;Confidence of the community; andGood health outcomes in many areas
What does the plan identify as SCDHB's areas of challenges?
Health information: improved sharing of clinical information is a pre-requisite for better integration and coordination among health professionals.
Workforce: South Canterbury has historically been an area in which recruitment of some health professional groups is challenging, although retention is high.
Networks: It is a high priority to improve regional networks, providing better specialist advice when it is needed, and peer education and support for health professionals.
Facilities: The present hospital facility will constrain the effective delivery of care across a range of services for the future.
Best practice integration: Some aspects of integration across health service in South Canterbury are good, but there are many areas in which different services could improve coordination around the needs of patients.
How does the South Canterbury Health Service Plan fit within national and regional planning frameworks?
Legislative changes mean DHBs are no longer required to have strategic plans. The South Canterbury Health Service Plan, which contains SCDHB's medium- and long-term priorities, sits under a similar plan for the South Island. Every year SCDHB's annual plan will operationalise the priorities, starting next year.
Why are there no specific targets or financial information in the South Canterbury Health Service Plan?
It is not an operational plan. Each year the DHB's annual plan will include specific targets and financial information at an operational level. Everything in the annual plan will need to link to the high-level priorities in the South Canterbury Health Service Plan.
Where else can I find information about DHB priorities?
Other key planning and accountability documents are the Annual Plan, Annual Report and Year in Review.
SCDHB’s Health Profile shows that the health status of South Cantabrians is the same or slightly better than New Zealanders overall.