Counties Manukau Health installs telehealth pods

NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

Six telehealth pods have been installed at the Manukau SuperClinic.

The pods are about 2 by 1.5 metres wide, and house two computer monitors with all the equipment needed for video conferencing and phone calls.

Counties Manukau Health telehealth lead Michelle McRobbie says that as the DHB started doing more appointments by telehealth, her team began to investigate ways of getting people out of clinic spaces to free up capacity.

“The pods replicate what people would have in the clinic room, but in a smaller space,” she explains.

McRobbie says the pods are used by staff to conduct telehealth appointments or attend multi-disciplinary meetings, as well as do other things like remote education.

Caleb Hill, programme manager at Counties Manukau Health, says the pods are booked in advance in up to four-hour blocks and they are being used for five to six hours a day on a regular basis.

Counties Manukau Health started with a trial of two pods in February 2021 and sought feedback from clinicians. Over the following year another four were funded.

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Hill says feedback highlighted the reduced amount of time people were having to spend travelling between different DHB sites for meetings and clinics, or to work from their offices.

The DHB rapidly switched to telehealth appointments due to the Covid pandemic and the pods have the appropriate technology to support these, including computers that are connected to all the DHB’s clinical information systems.

They are also soundproof and have frosted glass, giving staff the necessary privacy to conduct an appointment, which can be difficult to find in a busy hospital.

“We really needed additional spaces as people were running telehealth consults from everywhere and we didn't want people moving between different sites because of the risk of exposure,” says Hill.

He says the arrival of Covid accelerated the DHB’s decision to invest in telehealth pods and they are now being used by a wide range of staff including administrative, allied health, nurses, and doctors.

Future plans include placing three telehealth pods at Middlemore Hospital. They are also investigating having them in the community, possibly at a library or marae, to give patients a private space to have an appointment.


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