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Quality Report a New Zealand first by Waikato DHBThe Health Quality & Safety Commission has congratulated Waikato DHB on being the first DHB in New Zealand to publish a Quality Account. Quality Accounts are annual reports to the public from providers of health and disability services about the quality of the services they provide. They aim to enhance accountability to the public and engage the leaders of provider organisations in their quality improvement agenda. Quality Accounts should describe what an organisation is doing well; where improvements in service quality are required; what the organisation's plans for improvement for the coming year are and how they have involved service users, staff and others in determining the priorities for improvement. Quality Accounts were first introduced into the UK National Health Service in 2009 and became a reporting requirement for all NHS Trusts in 2010. The aim was to demonstrate that quality of care is core business for the NHS by placing on an equal footing the reporting of how Trusts handled finances with how they handled the quality of services. The Commission identified in its 2011 to 2014 Statement of Intent the priority of identifying indicators of quality and safety in health, with the aim of standardising and streamlining quality reporting. To progress this priority the Commission has commissioned a working group from the National Quality and Risk Managers to undertake a project, working with clinicians, patients, carers and representative groups to generate an agreed format, guidelines and suggested content for annual District Health Board Quality Accounts to be utilised by all New Zealand Health and Disability Service providers. The results of this project will be available by June 2012. Waikato DHB's quality report records the steps the DHB took to improve services and outcomes. Read more. Date: 30 January 2012 Contact: Mary Anne Gill Communications Director Waikato District Health Board 021 705 213 |