Like all health systems, Canterbury faces pressure from increased demand for health services from people who are experiencing an increasingly complex range of health conditions. Hospitals, emergency services and residential care facilities are under pressure.
As a result, there is increased burden on primary care services, particularly general practices, to keep Kiwis well and out of hospital. However, to cope with this increased pressure and in order to create a sustainable, vibrant and attractive workforce model, they too must change the way they work.
Canterbury’s Integrated Family Health Service (IFHS) supports integration and collaboration between general practice and other health and social services so that they are better coordinated to conveniently, efficiently and sustainably meet the needs of Cantabrians.
IFHS was a finalist at this year's IPANZ Excellence Awards in the category of Improving Public Value through Business Transformation, recognising the important gains it has helped achieve in increasing access to healthcare and building a sustainable workforce by changing traditional practices in primary care.
Canterbury’s health system is working to support people to take greater responsibility for their own health and stay well in their own homes. By building sustainable capacity and capability of primary care teams to enable coordinated care for people in a community setting, IFHS supports people to stay well and access care in the community. This in turn frees up hospital and specialist resources to respond to more complex episodic events, as well as reducing pressure on aged care facilities as older people are staying in their own homes for longer.
IFHS is a funded programme hosted by Pegasus Health that is available to all general practices in Canterbury. Through the programme, trained facilitators work with local groups of consumers, practices, pharmacies, community providers and hospital services to find new ways of working and reduce unnecessary work, freeing up time to do what they are trained to do.
Evidence indicates IFHS significantly contributes to reducing unnecessary wait times, improving access to healthcare, reducing pressure on secondary services, enabling more proactive healthcare and increasing patient and workforce satisfaction.
Travis Medical Centre in north-east Christchurch is one practice that has demonstrated what can be achieved. The ongoing innovation at the practice, which has been supported by the IFHS programme, has achieved an average 25% capacity gain for their doctors, plus 50% more nurse consultations. One GP has utilised this freed up capacity to take on 14% more patients while also spending more time with complex patients who need it. Another GP has maintained his patient population and been able to reduce the hours he works, a result better achieving better work/life balance.
The practice’s enrolled patients visit Canterbury’s emergency services less often, despite a concurrent 14% increase in enrolments. As a result there are 50% less patients attending the Emergency Department in Canterbury.
Their patients are benefiting from better access to care and reduced average costs of care. Contributing to a better and more sustainable health system overall, Travis Medical Centre’s enrolled patients are placing less pressure on emergency services than the region average and relying less on emergency services for care that can be provided in the community. They are increasingly taking more responsibility for their own health, in turn helping to improve access to care for people with acute and complex conditions.
Click on the cover images below to read more about the IFHS Programme and the Travis Medical Centre's journey to change the patient experience for the better.
