Congratulations to all the 2019 primary care quality improvement facilitator programme graduates

Primary care quality improvement facilitator programme graduates and facilitators
Congratulations to the 17 representatives who work in primary care throughout Aotearoa New Zealand and completed this year’s Health Quality & Safety Commission primary care quality improvement facilitator (PC QIF) programme, graduating at the QIF celebration event held on Tuesday 26 November 2019 at Ko Awatea.
Led by the team at Ko Awatea, the centre for health system innovation and improvement at Counties Manukau Health, the participants undertook the QIF programme to learn about quality improvement methodologies and tools to implement in their workplaces to improve quality and safety in primary care.
Attendees who completed the programme are from a wide range of roles in primary care including pharmacists, nurses and practice managers who work in GP practices, pharmacies and Māori/iwi health organisations. Many of these projects were also involved in the Commission’s Whakakotahi primary care quality improvement programme. The course facilitators included Suzanne Proudfoot, Alison Howitt and Lynne Maher from Ko Awatea, and Jane Cullen from the Commission.
The programme covered a range of topics from process mapping and Ishikawa cause and effect diagrams to plan–do–study–act (PDSA) tests of change, run charts and data analysis. Each participant then applied the knowledge learnt to a quality improvement project of their choice.
The participants who were also involved in the Whakakotahi programme worked on projects which were selected to address equity, integration and consumer engagement. Projects ranged from gout and diabetes management for Māori and Pacific peoples, to improving access to medicines for those in a remote rural setting, to addressing appropriate physical health checks for consumers who are on an opioid substitution therapy (OST) programme through their community pharmacy.
The celebration event was attended by Karen Orsborn, deputy chief executive and director health quality learning and improvement of the Health Quality & Safety Commission, with guest presentations from Dr Lynne Maher and Dr Jim Vause.

GP Dr Jim Vause
The following participants presented their projects:
Jessica Sandbrook, TAS
‘Effective transfer of care from lead maternity carer (LMC) to Well Child Tamariki Ora (WCTO)’

Jessica Sandbrook
James Westbury and Reuben Teo, Westbury Pharmacy
‘Improving quality of life in Māori patients with poorly managed gout registered at Hora te Pai Health Centre in the Kāpiti Coast’

L–R: James Westbury and Reuben Teo, Westbury Pharmacy
Michelle Madgwick, South City Health
‘Improving eczema awareness, management and support to patients and whānau’

South City Health Eczema Improvement Team, L–R: Sponsor – Teresa Waitere, project lead – Michelle Madgwick, registered nurse lead – Melissa Castillo, GP lead – Dr Kate Sinclair
Improvement project storyboard awards were presented to:
Charts and data - Kiritahanga Savage and team from Te Whānau ā Apanui, Te Kaha
Best use of tools – Chenoa Walker, Pegasus

Improvement project storyboard award for best use of tools
People's Choice Award – Mele Vaka and Deepika Sonia, Tongan Health Society

People's Choice Award
In the Commission’s partnership with PHARMAC this year, there have been three teams with a focus on medicines access equity, who have been supported by Sandy Bhawan. Their projects covered rural medicines access for people in Te Kaha, gout management for Māori whānau and diabetes management for the Tongan population.

L-R: Sandy Bhawan, Kiritahanga Savage, Reuben Teo, James Westbury, Mele Vaka, Deepika Sonia
Well done to all of the PC QIF graduates and their project teams for your excellent work this year!
The graduates from the 2019 PC QIF programme are:
Graduate name |
Organisation |
Ali Dewsbury |
Pegasus Health |
Aroha Te Tai-Dempsey |
Taumarunui Community Kokiri Trust |
Chenoa Walker |
Pegasus Health |
Deepika Sonia |
Tongan Health Society |
Eddie See |
Countdown Mt Eden Pharmacy |
James Westbury |
Westbury Pharmacy |
Jessica Sandbrook |
TAS |
Kiritahanga Savage |
Te Whānau ā Apanui |
Megan Peters |
Victory Square Pharmacy |
Mele Vaka |
Tongan Health Society |
Michelle Madgwick |
South City Health |
Michelle Ogle-Atkins |
Tui Ora |
Miriam Lindsay |
Green Cross Health |
Rachael Pere |
Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga |
Reuben Teo |
Westbury Pharmacy |
Samantha Huntley |
Mt Eden Pharmacy |
Te Ringa Te Awhe |
Ruapehu Health Ltd |