A new year brings new changes: Hunter New England Health shares Garling Inquiry progress
Senior representatives from Hunter New England Health will meet with community representatives and staff from Maitland Hospital on Wednesday to discuss the progress achieved by Area in 2009 as part of Caring Together: The Health Action Plan for NSW.
The Caring Together Health Action Plan was developed in response to the recommendations made by Mr Peter Garling SC, following his Inquiry into Acute Care Services in NSW public hospitals in November 2008.
Nurse Unit Manager of the Surgical Unit Jeanette Darley and Education Co-ordinator for Maitland Hospital Carolann Aartsen will present an update on the work undertaken by staff as part of Caring Together recommendations addressing the Essentials of Care* program.
Doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, support and non-clinical staff, management and community representatives are expected to attend the forum, with an opportunity for participants to take part in a series of workshops relating to the Area’s progress in implementing Stage 1 recommendations.
Chief Executive of Hunter New England Health Dr Nigel Lyons said a number of recommendations had been implemented by the Area Health Service in 2009 following feedback received from Caring Together workshops held in the New England region late last year.
“Last year we had the opportunity to meet with community representatives and staff from a number of sites across Hunter New England Health to hear their views on our progress and commitment to progressing Caring Together recommendations,” he said.
“We found feedback from these consultation forums was enormously valuable in shaping our response to Caring Together.
“Staff across our metropolitan and rural centres should equally have the opportunity to give consideration to the issues raised, and provide feedback about the Area’s direction and response,” Dr Lyons said.
A number of initiatives have been implemented within Hunter New England Health as a result of Caring Together recommendations, including improvements to out-of-hospital care, the development of clinical resources such as a standardised Emergency Department Checklist and patient observation chart, and improving staff identification for the benefit of patients.
“We’ve initiated a number of immediate changes to demonstrate our commitment to improving patient care,” Dr Lyons said.
“Caring Together also provides a number of long-term recommendations that will gradually be implemented by Hunter New England Health to ensure they deliver genuine, sustainable improvements to both clinical care, and the way in which care is delivered,” he said.
* The Essentials of Care program has been introduced at 35 sites in Hunter New England Health as a cultural change program for the workplace and encourages clinicians, medical staff and nursing teams to work in a patient-centred environment. It has been developed in response to feedback from patients which indicates the need to improve fundamental aspects of their care such as hygiene, nutrition, comfort and communication, as well as from staff who express the desire to provide better, safer care to patients.
Media note: The Forum will take place in the Education Centre, Maitland Hospital on Wednesday 19 January from 9.30 – 11.30am. Chief Executive Dr Nigel Lyons will be attending and is available for media interviews.
For media enquiries, please contact Nicole Fuller on (02) 4921 4477 or 0408 665 019 (HNE Ref: HNE-2135)
Contact: Nicole Fuller
Phone: (02) 4921 4477