Halifax Veterinary Centre

Best Practice Audit 

Halifax Veterinary Centre - "a model for quality veterinary practice in New Zealand"

Dr Hans Andersen is beaming with pride as he shows the report from the recent BESTPRACTICE™ audit. And rightly so. The report is studded with quotable comments from auditor Dr Helen Beban who was impressed with what she found at Halifax.

"It is pleasing to the BESTPRACTICE™ Committee that all aspects of the new requirements contained in the February 2004 update of the hospital standards have been embraced by Halifax.
Halifax Veterinary Centre remains the only veterinary practice in New Zealand to meet the rigorous requirements of the top tier of the New Zealand Veterinary Association practice standards scheme and as such is the only accredited BESTPRACTICE™ Hospital in NewZealand".

But how come New Zealand's only accredited veterinary hospital is in Nelson? Hans scratches his head at this one. "I've been asked that before, and I think that there are a lot of reasons.

At the beginning of my partnership with Duncan Graham we decided that our yardstick for medical and surgical decisions would be best current practice, rather than tradition or convenience. So that was a good foundation.

Then when Tedi Busch joined us with her ophthalmology skills, Duncan developed his dermatology skills and I did further study in canine and feline medicine. That started a style of practice where members of a team would each bring extra skills to bear on a case. Chris Welland joined us and has developed top medical and ultrasound skills. Bryan Paterson is great at orthopaedics and has just done further study in radiology. Todd Halsey has just joined us, again with top medical and ultrasound skills and interests in gastroenterology and cancer medicine. The nursing staff, too, have developed areas of expertise. So clients benefit from a great team."

"Vets at Halifax have a very high standard of postgraduate qualifications."

"A third reason for it is that 8 years ago when we had outgrown the old Halifax clinic we partners could see that we just had 10-20 years before we retired. We all wanted a chance to practise at the top level, give it our best shot, before we hung up the stethoscope. So we built the new Halifax Veterinary Centre to the then draft Hospital Standards and made it as good as we could afford. Better than we could afford, actually!"

"The building has a wonderful sense of space, light and cleanliness. The animal photos in the hallway add to the client friendly atmosphere. The building and staff inspire a sense of approachability and professionalism obvious to the auditor through observing and listening to client contact."

I guess the final reason is Nelson itself. Many, like us, have moved here for the lifestyle and then found that away from the rat race they could focus on fulfilling their dreams. So there are lots of Nelson businesses that lead their fields."

Well, with its third successful audit behind it Halifax Veterinary Centre can now rest on its laurels. "No way!" says Hans. "BESTPRACTICE™ is about continuous improvement. Since the audit less than a month ago we've installed a new autoclave which will see our sterilisation systems and audit trail at the same level as New Zealand's top medical hospitals. And we've just bought three new anaesthetic machines to make this critical area of pet care much safer."

"Halifax is a model for veterinary practice in New Zealand. The level of competence and dedication of all staff was obvious to the auditor and the practice is to be congratulated".

(and we're still NZ's only accredited veterinary hospital)

We recently received our Audit Report from the New Zealand Veterinary Association Veterinary Hospital Standards after their examination of our hospital.

It sounds kind of stuffy, but the report is a very important assessment by our peer organisation.  Their findings are a benchmark for us to see how we are going and to make any necessary improvements.

We thought you might like to check out some of the comments they made about Halifax Vets.

"The Halifax Veterinary Centre continues to represent the level of excellence that the NZVA Veterinary Hospital Standards strives to encourage.  The practice embodies a highly professional and ethical standard while presenting a caring and friendly image.  All staff are welcoming, competent and informative.  The exterior and interior of the clinic is looking very good after 5 years of veterinary practice.

Halifax Veterinary Centre again can be proud of the high standard the practice has achieved.  The auditor was extremely impressed by the personnel, the facilitles and the atmosphere at the Halifax Veterinary Centre.

Halifax Veterinary Centre has met all the required standards to gain Accreditation for the NZVA Veterinary Hospital Standards."

Auditor, New Zealand Veterinary Association

April 2000:

Halifax Veterinary Centre becomes New Zealand’s FIRST EVER Accredited Veterinary Hospital. This means quality control and quality assurance, for our clients, their pets, for veterinarians who refer cases to us, and for the Halifax veterinarians and support staff.

When we designed and built the new Halifax Veterinary Centre, hospital accreditation was always a goal.

But what really is accreditation? The New Zealand Veterinary Association has established criteria for accredited clinics and accredited hospitals. Accredited hospitals are the top tier, and must meet criteria that are more demanding than clinics – and in some areas – much more demanding! NZ’s Hospital Standards are based on international requirements and are on par with those in Australia, America and the U.K.

The Halifax Veterinary Centre building, one of the most modern and sophisticated companion animal hospitals in New Zealand, still required some physical upgrading. The ventilation system had to be modified to ensure the specified number of hourly air changes was reliably achieved. Fully monitored smoke detectors have been installed. The new isoflourane anaesthesia was introduced, and additional surgical and dentistry equipment purchased.

We were especially pleased that we already had separate cat and dog wards, an appropriate theatre and support areas, and safe traffic patterns. We also have four veterinarians listed on the national NZ Veterinary Association "Particular Interests" list for referral services, and all vets have more than five years experience with companion animals. Our nursing team qualifications very much exceeded the requirements of the accreditation standards. Without these already in place, accreditation would have been very difficult indeed.

The purpose of the standards and accreditation is to ensure that the best possible care is provided to pets, or more formally, companion animals. That means every identifiable factor that might impact on a pet’s health and care while at the hospital is prescribed, monitored and audited. This ranges from the qualifications and experience of veterinary and nursing staff, back up expertise, out of hours, quality programmes for diagnostics (x-rays, labs tests, ultra-sound and the like), computer backups, right down to the cleaning procedures. For instance, separate mops are required for general use, isolation ward, and theatre! Even though we had in place a very sophisticated computer based patient record keeping and logging system, we were still required to progress through an extensive upgrade to meet the stringent accreditation standards. And what a process a hospital accreditation audit is: two auditors for a full day. No stone is left unturned to ensure absolute compliance with the standard.

You are welcome to call and see the full accreditation standards. But be warned - they are lengthy and very detailed!

Wow! That was some process. Now we can look forward to our ongoing audits!

August 1999:

Halifax Veterinary Centre becomes an official establishment for Police Dogs and Guide Dogs.
 

We also work with the Department of Conservation endangered bird projects and other wildlife including hawks, Kakapo and Takahe.

Energy Award 

Halifax Veterinary Centre wins the environmentally conscious Tasman Energy Efficiency Award.

The judges were suitably impressed not only with the modern building with its excellent fire, acoustic, and earthquake rating, Power Panel construction and mechanical heating/ventilation systems, but also with the user friendly lighting and use of natural cross ventilation.

The $1,000 prize was put towards new equipment for elderly cats.

Halifax Veterinary Centre wins the Nelson Region Chamber of Commerce "Excellence for Service" in the Tasman Energy Business Awards.

This was the first time we had entered.

October 2000:

Halifax Veterinary Centre enters the Commerce Nelson Business Awards again for the first time since their Service Award recognition in 1994. This year we won again, but even more awards:

Winner of the J A Levenbach Excellence in Service Award.

And

Savage and Savage Medium Business Award.