Interest in health network
MORE than 40 people have registered an interest in being part of Otago’s first health locality network and a shortlist of applicants will be compiled this month.
The Central Lakes Locality Network will act as an advisory network to support the implementation of the Southern District Health Board’s (SDHB) Primary and Community Care Strategy and Action Plan, which will restructure healthcare to better integrate health services and focus more on primary and community care.
The Central Lakes network will cover Queenstown, Wanaka and Central Otago, and be the first in the SDHB region.
Other locality networks would be established in Dunedin, Invercargill, Southland, Gore, Balclutha and the Waitaki, and the ‘‘learnings and experience’’ of the Central Lakes network would be used when forming those networks, a SDHB spokeswoman said.
The spokeswoman said the applicants for the Central Lakes network were ‘‘very well qualified’’, including healthcare professionals, patients, consumers ‘‘and others interested in having a positive, substantive influence in shaping healthcare services in Central Otago’’.
Between six and 10 people will be chosen for the locality network and the members are likely to be selected by March.
SDHB information says the locality network will give Central Otago and Queenstown Lakes residents ‘‘the opportunity to influence the future of health care and health service delivery’’ in their region. Network members will help ‘‘prioritise and plan health services so that they meet the needs of local communities and are well integrated with the broader health system’’.
The networks will complement and coordinate with other key features of the Strategy and Action Plan, including community health hubs — physical places from which health services are delivered, such as rural health trust facilities or new clinical facilities.
The hubs will include Health Care Homes — expanded, more multidisciplinary general practices that may also include some services traditionally provided at hospitals, and/or other services like mental health.