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Clinical Director appointed
Last month Dr Colin Feek was appointed Clinical Director for Kenepuru, Kapiti and Community Health. The appointment is part of a longstanding relationship he has had with Capital & Coast DHB that began when he emigrated from the UK in 1987 to become a specialist endocrinologist and physician at Wellington Hospital.
After gaining a Master’s degree in Public Policy in 1993 from Victoria University he was appointed Chief Advisor, Medical, to the Ministry of Health in 1994 before being appointed Deputy Director-General, Clinical Services Directorate, in December 2001. Most recently he’s been in Dubai where he was setting up a new Health Authority and a Primary Health Care strategy. “Before I went to Dubai I did a secondment for the Ministry at Capital & Coast DHB. I have recently started Internal Medicine at Keneperu and found it to be a fine facility with dedicated and enthusiastic staff.”
With his new role as Clinical Director he says it’s very much a balancing act between looking at the needs of the community and the services that Kenepuru can provide. “Whilst I have many ideas, most depend on the staff and patients. It’s an emergent strategy - you suck it and see what happens. I need to work out where the barriers are and try and work through them.
“We know we have increased surgical capacity at Kenepuru, and can definitely improve productivity on a range of elective surgeries. I’ve seen some exciting ambulatory care facilities in the UK that separate out pre-op assessments and day case surgery away from the tertiary hospital, so that’s one area I’m interested in. Another area I want to look at is the integration of the AT & R [Assessment, Treatment and Rehabilitation service] with Geriatric Services.
“Then there’s the A&M, where we need to look at a better integration with Primary Care. While Primary Care sees itself as an independent business model, compared with the publically funded DHB, we need to have common outcomes for the region.”
Most importantly, he says, we must be focussed on the needs of the Porirua and Kapiti people. “The community must be able to access Kenepuru for lo-tech solutions and not have to travel into Wellington if they have a fracture, for example, or need diabetes advice.”