Latest News 16 September 2019 | Counties Manukau Health has recently achieved accreditation for its Respiratory Function Laboratory, assuring quality of care for people who need lung function tests.
The laboratory, in the Manukau SuperClinic, is now one of only five accredited services in the country – there are three in the North Island and two in the South.
Clinical physiologist Andrew Collingwood explains accreditation was achieved after several steps, including the preparation of an extensive protocol manual, and site visits by the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (an organisation representing a range of professions in lung health, including respiratory doctors).
The initial visit identified that the service needed more space so the area was redesigned to make an office and two separate laboratory spaces, using an extra room from the adjacent cardiology service. Following the redesign of space, Mr Collingwood says the service also acquired new equipment through a combination of capital replacement and new purchases.
Mr Collingwood says the team, comprising of three clinical physiologists, perform a range of lung function and exercise tests on about 180 patients a month who present with symptoms such as breathlessness and coughs. As well as patients with respiratory disease, the team also perform tests on patients with conditions where lungs may be affected, including cancer, and cardiac and autoimmune diseases.
Accreditation means the respiratory physiology laboratory service is now able to demonstrate a defined standard for patient care and ensure the training of registrars in respiratory medicine in CM Health meets the external standards required, he says.
Accreditation lasts five years.