In 2009 a number of recommendations were made by the Medical
Training Board and Resident Medical Officers commission in relation to the need
for greater integration and coordination of medical education and training. As
a result of these recommendations there has been agreement on the need to
develop Regional Training Hubs. The focus of the Regional Training Hubs will be
to coordinate training for all health professionals.
The planned model will feature four postgraduate training hubs covering the
upper, central, and lower North Island and the South Island. Each hub will be
responsible for a population of approximately one million people.
To this end the Northern Regional Training Hub (NoRTH) was brought into
existence on 1 September 2011. NoRTH will be an actual entity, responsible for
the coordination of postgraduate training and education throughout the northern
region. It will be the mechanism for engagement with Health Workforce New
Zealand and other central agencies in regards to workforce development and
planning. The hubs will be multidisciplinary in their approach and will support
and reinforce the relationships between the various employers of the trainee
workforce, universities, colleges, and professional and regulatory bodies. They
will provide a centralised resource for learning and career decision-making as
well as nationally coordinated and standardised training and curriculum
delivery.
NoRTH has been created to better support health professionals in their
education and training journey. The hub allows consolidation of regional
resources and reduces duplication of effort by the four northern DHBs
(Northland, Waitemata, Auckland, and Counties Manukau). In essence it is a more
effective and efficient way of supporting health professionals on their
educational journey.
RMOs will be the focus in the first instance and work is being undertaken to
try and standardise training for house officers within the northern region and
across the four DHBs.
Establishment of NoRTH has taken cognisance of regional DHB requirements,
with substantial input from the regional Clinical Leaders of Chief Medical
Officer, Directors of Nursing, Directors of Allied, Technical, and Scientific.
In addition, stakeholder consultation has been undertaken with all of the health
professions – including Medicine, Nursing, Midwifery, Allied, Technical, and
Scientific. There has also been engagement with key education providers and
professional associations regarding the creation of NoRTH.
NoRTH is being created with substantial input from all four DHBs. The four
regional CEOs provide the overarching mandate and accountability, with the
regional Clinical Leaders’ Forum which compromises of CMO, DON and DAH
representatives from each DHB, as the governance group.
NoRTH will reduce duplication and encourage regional collaboration and
coordination. The imperative of NoRTH is to improve support to health
professionals and in the first instance doctors in their postgraduate one and
two years, with an ultimate goal of increasing vocational registration. NoRTH
will provide resources and access to support and training for house officers and
subsequently all health professionals.
No. NoRTH will be designed as a ‘natural progression’ for integrating health
professional education and support. NoRTH will remain DHB owned and
operated.
Ongoing communication between NoRTH and local DHB communications managers is
a key priority for the development of the hub. Communications to staff within
the four northern DHBs will be ongoing and monthly updates will be provided
through means of internal staff communications.
