Tasilisili Manager – Research Quality and Teaching

Langimalie Integrated Family Health Centres always seeks to provide the highest standard of service for our patients, clients, staff and all who engage with us. This report describes the wide range of activities that have been undertaken.

RNZCGP PRACTICE ACCREDITATION: We are a Cornerstone accredited practice, a quality improvement and quality assurance process which allows a practice to measure themselves against a defined set of standards titled Aiming for Excellence - a standard for New Zealand general medical practices.

CLINICAL GOVERNANCE: Dr Glennis Mafi has served on the Alliance Health + PHO Clinical Governance Committee for more than three years and Clinical Services Manager, Mele Vaka joined the committee last year.

The following work programme has been achieved for the research and audit:

• Chronic kidney disease research has been reported and published, but the work continues under leadership of Diabetes Nurse Fifita McGready and visiting Professor Tim Cundy and was published recently in the NZMJ. This is now one of four publications in international medical journals.

• Self-Management and Diabetes Education Group sessions with PNs Fifita McGready and , and nurse assistants Mele Oketi Tapueluelu and Mapuani Tupou, in addition to Elenoa Havea. THS has also recently secured SME contracts with CMDHB for our South Auckland clients.

• Safety in Practice: Auckland-wide programme run by the Ko Awatea Centre at CMDHB. We have focused on warfarin management, and also conducted a staff perception of our safety climate survey. Dr G Mafi, PNs Ana Tangataolakepa, Mele Vaka and Receptionist Paea Tuaefe.

• Insulin initiation and intensification: Long-term Conditions Co-ordinator Fifita McGready and the CEO Medical Director have focused on addressing THS clients who are on maximum oral hypoglycaemics and now require insulin. The project is aimed at looking at an innovative way to approach these clients who have multiple issues around resistance to insulin initiation.

• Patient Harms in General Practice: Looking only at the Panmure Clinic, a joint project with the Otago University School of Medicine.

• Ethnicity Classification in Primary Care: Elaine Tagaloa and CEO/Medical Director undertook this audit and THS achieved 95% accuracy and was one of the top five practices in the AH+ PHO. The audit is also recognised by the RNZCGP.

• Medication Adherence Trial (Boehringer Ingelheim & Healthstat NZ): This project was aimed at using smart phone technology to assist chronic conditions clients with medication reminders, especially those with respiratory conditions and on long-term beta agonists such as SPIRIVA, ultimately to prevent hospitalisations for our COPD patients.

• Literacy in Tongan women’s health and contraceptive use: THS Board Chairman, Ms Pauline Fakalata, undertook this project as part of her thesis. It was completed in April 2015.