CE update - January 2020

Welcome to the New Year; I trust everyone who took time off had a relaxing break with family and friends.

A big thank you to those who worked over the holiday period to ensure our core services continued. Also, thanks to Tanya Maloney for acting in the Chief Executive’s role during this time.

A warm welcome to our new executive director hospital and community services, Leena Singh, who started with us on 13 January. Many of you will already know Leena who worked with the DHB as a consultant during 2019 to create a comprehensive resource review document.

We began the year with our new executive structure in place and are now working to confirm the permanent appointments to those roles. My thanks to those staff who have agreed to take on these significant roles in an acting capacity while we complete the recruitment process.

This is likely to be a busy year for the DHB as we are building the structures and strategy which will support our people and communities into the future. It is not a simple task and I appreciate your patience and support. We will continue to work closely with teams to ensure relevant staff input into strategy development and that any new investment is fit for purpose and has a positive impact. We will share any further updates as quickly as possible.

We will be trialling a new format for the next CE Update utilising our Newsroom platform. You will still receive an email but it will contain a single link to view the full contents of the CE Update.

Novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)

While there remain no confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in New Zealand, the Waikato DHB Public Health Unit is working closely with the Ministry of Health and with our local government agencies and health providers to ensure we are prepared.

The emergency management manager and director of operations have assisted with drafting a DHB incident management structure in anticipation of a potential coronavirus CIMS response. Active engagement with Infection Control, Respiratory and the Emergency Department has also been undertaken to ensure a whole-of-DHB wide approach.

I want to assure you that the risk of transmission on our sites is extremely low. Robust processes are in place to protect staff, patients, whānau and visitors.

Information for staff on novel coronavirus is available on the intranet. There are guidelines for clinical staff and frequently asked questions relating to all staff. This will continue to be updated. Further information is also available on the Ministry of Health website.