Kia ora taatou
It’s been a rewarding few weeks for us at Counties Manukau with lots of positive developments and promising trends in our services.
We recently hosted the Prime Minister and the Minister of Health at an official opening of a new mobile breast screening bus which will be of major benefit to women in our area.
The bus can go anywhere there’s a good road, it has the very latest technology on board and the plusses of accessibility to breast screening delivered out in the community are significant.
The government announced new targets for cancer treatment, child immunisation, emergency departments, and wait times for first specialist assessments and elective treatment.
It is aiming for all districts to reach these targets by 2030.
Among these new targets is 90% of patients receiving cancer management within 31 days of the decision to treat them.
The government also wants to see improved immunisation rates with 95% of children fully immunised at 24-months of age.
It has a goal of shorter stays in emergency departments (ED) and shorter wait times for first specialist assessments with 95% of patients waiting less than four months for a first specialist assessment.
I should note and am very happy to report that some of our services are already delivering speedier service to the Counties Manukau community.
Recent figures coming out of our audiology service, show huge improvement in waiting times for example, for tamariki needing treatment for conditions like glue ear. Wait times in the last year have come down from an average of 202 days to just 46.
Recently we showcased the work of our very hard-working Sleep Health team. Sleep Awareness Day reminded anyone who suffers from sleeping difficulties like sleep apnoea to see their GP and access the excellent care available at the Manukau Superclinic.
Good sleep is important and we’re keen to help people whose sleeping issues, if untreated, can develop into more serious health problems. A condition called obstructive sleep apnoea is of particular importance.
Finally, as you’ll have noticed, summer is definitely nearly over! Time to think about winter wellness and especially getting your flu jabs done early.
All the best for Autumn.
Kia pai to raaa
Andrew Connolly
Acting Chief Medical Officer