Page 6 - TOH_Impact Report 2022-2023

CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S
REPORT
It has been a year of re-establishing our focus on our purpose and strategy following three years
of the Covid-19 Pandemic. The biggest challenge has been shortages in our clinical team with retirements in our nursing and allied health teams, and this combined with our inability to meet the higher pay rates for nurses in the public health sector, has made recruitment difficult.
We’re starting to see light at the end of the tunnel with additional funding being provided by the Government specifically to align our nurses’ wages with those at the hospitals, and a promise for pay parity for our social workers.
I am so grateful to our team. Everyone pulled together to work wherever the need was to meet the challenge and ensure patients continued to receive excellent care.
The reforms in the health system have been unsettling and created uncertainty as new mechanisms to determine and distribute funding were disclosed. Hospice New Zealand is working with Te Whatu Ora Health NZ to achieve equity and sustainability of funding for hospices.
Results from a survey of general practitioners showed they value Te Omanga Hospice’s resources, education, and access to advice. Primary care staff value regular meetings with our Palliative Care Facilitator, a single point of contact, funding to deliver care to their patients, and the ability to
visit patients in their home.
We achieved good reports from the independent audits against our agreement with Te Whatu Ora Health NZ and against the Ngā Paerewa Health and Disability Service Standards. Both external audits endorsed our policies, guidelines and procedures as compliant with current New Zealand legal obligations.
A key priority for the year has been progressing our focus on providing equity of access to all people with palliative care needs. The introduction of Mauri Mate, a Framework developed by Hospice New Zealand to guide palliative care delivered to adult Māori, has been a key aspect of this work. Over the last year, liaison with Mana Whenua has led to the development of a Te Omanga Hospice Genealogy and Pepeha to help staff to understand the whenua they are connecting to and the history of the Hospice.
It was a relief to be able to re-commence our bereavement services for family and whānau and offer our education programmes to our health provider partners as Covid-19 restrictions were relaxed throughout the year.
We welcomed Sue Mellsop to the role of Director of Nursing and Clinical Support Services. Sue is an excellent addition to our team, bringing her years of palliative care and leadership experience to
Te Omanga Hospice.
We welcomed new members to our Fundraising and Communications team during the year, who will strengthen our relationships with our wonderful supporters and bring fresh ideas to our fundraising and communications.
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