Newtown Medical Centre and the Health Care Home programme

The Health Care Home programme is moving into its eighth year at Tū Ora Compass Health, implementing and embedding the model of care within primary health across the Wellington and Wairarapa regions.

First introduced to Aotearoa over a decade ago, the sustained collaboration between Tū Ora Compass Health, Te Whatu Ora and Community Health Services has supported continued implementation of the Health Care Home model where meaningful change has resulted in a positive impact on our practices, people, and whānau.

Over the last few years, the pandemic has had an immense impact on primary care as it highlighted the need to constantly pivot in an ever-changing environment. The core elements of the Health Care Home model became a necessity as we embraced these new ways of working. A journey from which primary care teams across the nation were forced to re-examine and adjust to alternative ways they deliver health services while continuing to address the health inequities at full front and centre.

Extended Workforce at Newtown Medical Centre

Newtown Medical Centre has embraced the extended care team and is championing sustainability and innovation in primary care.

See what Business Manager Michelle Curel, Operations Manager Sharon Eggers, and Nurse Manager Karen Shonakan have to say about extended care at Newtown Medical Centre below.

What made you consider adding a paramedic to your team?
Initially, we had a doctor dedicated to doing one session each morning for
triage. However, we realised that this was taking up a significant number of routine appointments and we had a wait time of up to three and a half weeks to see a clinician. We were approached about having an Extended Care Paramedic (ECP) join the team and saw this as an opportunity to use his skills in acute triage effectively.

How has having a Paramedic improved equity and access for your patients?
It is evident that Tony has had a significant positive impact on patient care and the overall functioning of the practice. We have reduced wait times, improved access to care, reduced reliance on ED, and more time for patient education which is improving our patient’s health outcomes.

See full article in the reflections report here.

Award nominations

The HCH achievements and relections 2023 also involved some award recognition and we are proud to announce we were nominated in the following categories:

Michelle Curel – Leadership in continuous improvement

Tony Howatson – Influential Extended workforce

Jean Van Voornveld – Influential Extended workforce

Anne-Marie Goodwin – Influential Extended workforce