Before this referrals to gynaecology would be waiting weeks to be seen and Faster Cancer Treatment targets were not being met due to high-risk urgent referrals requiring priority over others, she said.
As of July this year, the team had performed 60 outpatient hysteroscopy procedures at a cost saving of $130,000 to the DHB, in addition to increasing theatre capacity allowing the more complex cases to be done in theatre in a timely manner.
Hysteroscopy Outpatient Clinics also received the Buddle Finlay Excellence in Clinical Practice Award for its delivery of safe, quality healthcare.
The winner of the Band Design House Commitment to Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Award was HBDHB Clinical Pharmacist Team for its project "Safe and Effective medicine use – Clinical Pharmacists influence prescribing".
A shared vision to improve medication prescribing and safety practices in primary care has become a reality in Hawke's Bay following the successful introduction of 10 non-dispensing clinical pharmacists assisting 21 general practices – all funded by Hawke's Bay District Health Board.
The regional rollout of the clinical pharmacists, which cover 84 per cent of the enrolled patient population, follows a successful two-year pilot that began in 2011.
Based on the successes of the pilot, in 2014 HBDHB approved $900,000 annually to extend the programme across the region.
January 2017 marked completion of the rollout following the appointment of the tenth clinical pharmacist to Wairoa.
The Hawke's Bay DHB Commitment to Reducing Inequities Award, which aims to improve access, reduce barriers and design services for Maori and Pasifika patients, was given to Raupunga Water Committee on behalf of Ngāti Pahuwera Incorporated Society for the initiative "With the flow of water comes the flow of life- how the community of Raupunga brought water to their community".
This initiative has meant the small village of Raupunga, south of Wairoa, has running water for the first time.
Previously households had to rely on rainwater to fill their tanks which was not always adequate due to many families not being able to afford water tankers to refill supplies when tanks ran dry.
Work began in September 2016 and was finished in July with members of the community completing much of the work.
The Hawke's Bay Health Sector Outstanding Contribution to Improving Health in Hawke's Bay Award went to Mary Wills, a health manager and former head of HBDHB Strategic Services.
She is currently Presbyterian Support East Coast Social Services manager.
Ms Wills was given the award for her support, leadership, innovation and development of patient-care funding models specific to Hawke's Bay.
Strategic Services manager Paul Malan said Ms Wills is known nationally, regionally and locally for her wisdom, tenacity and professionalism.
"Importantly for HBDHB, Mary's leadership has contributed significantly to clinical and financial sustainability through innovation, improvement and service redesign and this is evident in many of Hawke's Bay's proudest achievements."
Hawke's Bay District Health Board: engAGE ORBIT and St John Ambulance won the Skyline Aviation Excellence in Innovation Award for the "ORBIT St John Frailty Pathway: Improving experience for frail older people project".
The initiative, which was first trialled in June last year, is aimed at preventing unnecessary admission to hospital for frail, older people by providing urgent, inter-professional help for people patients who are seen by paramedics but many not need transfer to hospital for medical treatment.
The Health Hawke's Bay Excellence in Provider Collaboration and Integration Award was given to Hawke's Bay District Health Board Child Health Team, Health Hawke's Bay and general practices for "Reaping the benefits: General Practices embrace Clinical Pharmacists initiative".
HBDHB team leader and Clinical Pharmacist facilitator Dr Anne Denton said the clinical pharmacists had enjoyed integrating within the general practice team.
"The opportunity to extend their scope of practice in primary care has widened the professional horizon for a previously under-recognised and extremely valuable clinical resource."
The Southern Community Laboratories Excellence in Service Improvement Award went to
the engAGE Intermediate Care Beds for Frail Older People project which is a collaboration of HBDHB, engAGE, District Nursing, Clinical Pharmacist Facilitators, Older Persons Mental Health, NASC HB, General Practice, Health Hawke's Bay, Home Based Support Services and Aged Residential Care.
The project helps elderly people in Hawke's Bay avoid going into residential or hospital care before they need to by providing temporary care options.
Team leader of engAGE Service, Sarah Shanahan, said tailoring individual needs was key to achieving wellbeing goals for frail older people who wished to remain independent for as long as possible.
The service was rolled out across 13 local ARRC facilities in February 2016 and since then more than 2500 bed days had been utilised to June 2017.