Tuesday 26 July 2022 | 15:00-16:00

Format: Presentation
Stream: Improvement Methods
Content filters: tbc

Referral to a range of evidence-based services for people with mental health and long-term condition needs, in a large primary care organization serving high needs communities in Auckland NZ, had delivered generally good outcomes and experience. However, despite a lot of work to improve access, only 35-40% of those referred were ever seen, so this remained a core quality issue.

This presentation will overview a series of collaboratives from 2013 on, which tested different approaches to addressing this issue, and culminated in pilots in 2017/18 of integrating 3 new roles into primary care teams, to better meet people’s holistic wellbeing needs. An external evaluation was extremely positive, including that access rates in this new programme increased to over 90%. Subsequently the Government funded the programme for national implementation over the period 2020 to 2025.

The three new roles will be described, progress with implementation summarised, and longer term quantitative and qualitative data will be presented regarding the programme’s outcomes. This data shows that those accessing the new services are those with moderate to severe need, and indicates positive impact on access, outcomes, experience, and service utilisation. There is also early indication of positive impact on population wellbeing.

David Cordyre, Tamaki Health; New Zealand