Mr Tim Kelleher1
1Southern DHB, Dunedin, New Zealand
Is it possible to drive greater productivity and eliminate wait times without increasing staffing resources?
One of the greatest challenges faced by Community Rehabilitation Teams is the ability to engage and work with rehab patients early in their recovery and to be able to deliver high intensity therapeutic input at a time when it is needed most and the benefits are greatest. Many community rehab teams are faced with the twin problems of long waitlists and high caseloads which prevent teams operating in a model that is responsive to patient need and provides the best results for them. To be able to deliver this model of intervention sustainably for your patient population, an understanding of the demand on your service is required and this needs to be coupled to a accurate insight into your team’s true capacity which should be aligned to the model of care you wish to deliver.
I would like to to share the steps we took as a team to transition from a service operating with a hidden waitlist, high caseload numbers, long intervention periods and low intensity, to a high intensity no wait service.
Biography:
Tim Kelleher graduated from The University of the West of England with Bsc Hons in Physiotherapy in 1998. He has worked in a range of clinical, professional leadership and operational roles across Irish, British and NZ health services. He is currently working as a Rehabilitation Unit Manager with the Southern District Health Board