Tauranga hospital ward 3A received congratulations from health minister Tony Ryall

On Friday.

Health Minister Tony Ryall

Ward 3 A is the first ward in New Zealand to have completed the full programme funded by the Ministry of Health.

'The National government has invested heavily in Releasing Time to Care – The Productive Ward because it shows you can get even better service with the same resources,” says Tony.

'I'm told the amount of time staff used to spend collecting or looking for misplaced equipment has reduced from over an hour per shift to less than 25 minutes.

'Face to face time with patients has increased by around an hour and a half a day – from 39 per cent to 57 per cent of the shift.

'You made that improvement in the first three months of the programme and you've kept that up.”

The programme has increased the time Health Care Assistants spend with older patients from 48 per cent to 81 per cent.

'There was an initial rise in reporting medication events, which is a good thing because it means you're noticing more and looking harder,” says Tony.

Medication errors have decreased by 85 per cent and that is also being sustained.

Staff turnover has reduced from 3 to 4 staff leaving per month to one or none, a savings to the DHB of about $572,000.

The Productive Ward programme is now in operation in 76 wards across eleven DHBs enabling over four thousand nurses, health professionals and other staff to spend more time caring for their patients.

'I am delighted that here in the Bay of Plenty you've not only spread this programme to every ward in the DHB, but even better, you've maintained the gains you've made.,” says Tony.

'You have been the forerunner of nurses around the country changing the way their wards work so that they can improve the quality of care their patients receive.”