Canterbury DHB Quality Improvement and Innovation Awards

The Canterbury DHB Quality Improvement and Innovation Awards were first introduced in 2003 and are designed to recognise, reward and publicly acknowledge the excellent quality improvements or innovations generated by the Canterbury DHB staff and community based services.

The awards programme provides the opportunity for entrants to submit a quality improvement or innovation project they have undertaken. Entrants are provided with a Project Template document which promotes a standardised and systematic approach to innovative project management and contains prompts to assist in developing, undertaking and writing-up their project. Following submission of the completed Project Template, projects are evaluated by Assessors and a Judging panel confirm the overall winners, which are announced at an awards ceremony.

By encouraging staff to participate in continuous quality improvement projects and record their quality improvements or innovations, we are also able to capture and retain the knowledge within our organisation and share the learning both internally and externally. Previous entrants have also reported that through entering the Canterbury DHB Quality Improvement and Innovation Awards programme they have also acquired new skills, developed techniques and acquired additional knowledge regarding project management, report writing or quality improvement tools.

To date a total of 120 projects have been entered into the annual Canterbury DHB Quality Improvement and Innovation Awards programme. Many of these projects have achieved success in national programmes, such as the New Zealand Health Innovation Awards. By providing a mechanism for channelling projects from the Canterbury DHB into national quality award programmes and by encouraging and supporting staff to enter external quality award programmes, we further recognise and publicise their efforts and achievements in progressing the quality of care provided to the people of the Canterbury District. Please contact Gillian Pearce for a copy of any of the 120 project submissions and award ceremony photographs.