A better experience of healthcare and improved quality of life for people living with long-term conditions are the key aims for new teams being piloted in Total Healthcare clinics.
Clinical pharmacists and care partners are part of the Comprehensive Primary Care Team (CPCT) introduced to Local Doctors’ clinic teams in south and central Auckland to provide extra support for patients with long-term conditions.
The care partners are non-clinical roles identifying barriers to healthcare and wellbeing and clinical pharmacists also look deeper into patients’ needs to improve medication adherence and safety.
Pritika Prasad, care partner, and Crystal Hayr, clinical pharmacist, are among new members of the CPCT working in South Auckland.
The team follows the Te Whare Tapa Whā model of care supporting taha tinana (physical wellbeing) along with taha wairua (spiritual), taha hinengaro (mental and emotional) and taha whānau (family and social) wellbeing and recognising connection with the whenua (land).
Pritika says people in the new roles can spend extra time with patients in the busy clinics as they are not restricted to 15-minute appointments.
The pair contact patients who do not visit the clinic regularly to address barriers to care and offer help to those who visit frequently to plan their GPs visits and other needs.
Addressing huge social needs
Frequently people come in the clinic for their physical needs but also have huge social needs and Pritika and Crystal can help connect them with support.
“We have shared tears and hugs. People are opening up to us the first time we meet them and they just feel so relieved,” Pritika says.
Among those helped by Pritika is a wāhine Māori struggling with her own health issues as well as being a caregiver. Pritika connected her with social, budgeting, housing and food parcel support and referred her to the Wellness Support Team.
Clinical pharmacist Crystal hopes the trial will pay off with improved service in clinics and better patient outcomes.
Patients with long-term conditions who need support are identified in multiple ways including through a warm handover from a doctor or nurse, checking the enrolled population list to see who meets the criteria for help and screening waiting rooms.
Key issues Crystal assists with include providing medication information and support, assessing and addressing polypharmacy concerns in kaumatua (elders) who have more than 4—5 regular medications, assisting with clinical reviews and optimising therapy, improving both medication safety, as well as adherence and keeping practices up to date with Pharmac changes.
Read more about the Total Healthcare PHO, Tāmaki Health Comprehensive Primary Care Team pilot.
(Pictured is The Comprehensive Primary Care Team, from left, back: Pritika Prasad, Crystal Hayr, Mereaina Herangi, Saane Fakapulia, Lesina Miller, Sanam Raza, Anju Anil, front: Carolyn Humphreys and Vic Gilpin.)
