Te Whatu Ora pauses workforce restructure
Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand holds back its plan to ax positions across the organisation, including several digital and data jobs.
Interim chief human resources officer Fiona McCarhy said they stopped the planned restructure of three directorates across the National Public Health Service and Planning, Funding and Outcomes Group (Data and Analytics and Community Mental Health Funding and Investment).
This comes as it came to an agreement with the trade union Public Service Association, which had filed a legal complaint with the Employment Relations Authority against the organisation. The PSA alleged that Te Whatu Ora’s proposed job cuts could pose a “very real” IT breach risk to the health system.
“It follows cost savings being met in those areas through operational efficiencies, voluntary redundancy, and early exit processes,” explained McCarthy in a media release.
$4M for Australia’s first AFib data registry
A new project is underway, building what could be the first national registry for atrial fibrillation ablation in Australia.
The Australian Registry for the Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation will capture standardised data on AFib ablations, supporting clinicians in benchmarking their performance and identifying areas for improvement.
Vulnerable sectors, including First Nations peoples, women, and residents of rural and disadvantaged areas, are reportedly less likely to access this procedure, which is the most effective for the AFib. The condition is responsible for over 200,000 hospital admissions in Australia each year.
To be delivered by Monash University’s Centre of Cardiovascular Research and Education in Therapeutics, the national registry project received A$7 million ($4 million) in grant funding for over five years from the federal government’s Medical Research Future Fund. It involves 50 chief investigators collaborating with heart research institutions, including Monash.
Chris O’Brien Lifehouse implements e-meds management
Not-for-profit cancer hospital Chris O’Brien Lifehouse has recently introduced electronic medication management in its inpatient setting.
The cancer treatment centre added electronic prescribing, point-of-care, and bedside workflow solutions into its existing Meditech EMR system, enabling closed-loop medication management.
Cancer record goes live in Rockingham General Hospital
Rockingham General Hospital in Western Australia has recently implemented a cancer record management system by Magentus.
The rollout is part of a service-wide transition of South Metropolitan Health Service to a full electronic prescribing system.
The system, which enables near real-time access to cancer patient information, is already live at Fiona Stanley Hospital and Peel Health Campus.
