New Risks and Opportunities: 2007 NSW Health Awards
The NSW health system is a large, complex system that must continually adapt in a dynamic environment to meet the community’s changing health needs. The system’s capacity to be ready to respond strategically to all situations, both predicted and unexpected, cannot be taken for granted.
What we are striving for in 2010 is a health system that is alert to the changes in the world around it as well as quick to anticipate and respond to new issues as they emerge. It must be flexible enough to adapt to new circumstances and robust enough to sustain itself in the face of external pressures.
Winner
- HICS (Health Care Interpreter Service) at Sydney West - The establishment of a 24-hour HCIS Call Centre equipped with modern technology and telecommunication systems had a major impact on improving access to health care interpreters.
Finalists
- Prioritising Paediatric Care in Disasters - The development of a tool for triaging children in a disaster situation.
- Safe Club - ‘SafeClub’ program was developed to help community sports clubs implement their own user friendly risk management framework and has resulted in a significant increase in safety activities.
Entries
- Blood Borne Virus Infection - Innovative approach to evaluate and prevent cross transmission in dialysis units - The development of practical operational guidelines for planning and future interventions to prevent BBV cross-transmission in dialysis units.
- Convergence 2007: An interagency and clinician stakeholder field testing activity - The Sydney Hospital and Sydney Eye Hospital (SH/SEH) external disaster management plan was revised in line with the currently held all hazards approach to disaster management.
- Improving access to emergency care through redesign and streaming - A clinical redesign process to improve patient and staff journey in the ED was implemented, focusing on the “Front of House”, fast-track area and streaming patients to staff teams according to the complexity and acuity of their presenting problem.
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease - The Gastroenterology Liaison Nurse service, reduced outpatient visits both urgent and routine and inpatient admissions and reduced Emergency Department presentations for "frequent fliers".
- Intra Aortic Balloon Pump Transports - An increasing need resulted in the design, development and implementation of a safe method of transporting patients dependent on the Intra Aortic Balloon Pump.
- Mini Nutrition Assessment Tool: A step in the right direction - The MNA tool appears to be a simple, non-invasive and cost effective tool for assessing nutritional status of rehabilitation/geriatric hospital inpatients.
- Perfecting Policy and Procedure Processing - The Children’s Hospital at Westmead has revolutionised their document management system (DMS), resulting in improvement in all processes relating to document development, review and use.
- Population Health takes action on Global Warming - The Global Warming Action Committee has exceeded their target reduction in energy consupmtion in the first 3 months.
- Students As Life-Style Activits Program - A peer education program to provide high school students with the necessary knowledge and skills to achieve and maintain a balanced and healthy lifestyle.
- Translating innovation from practice to paper - A Framework that blends workshops and coaching sessions, providing participants with the knowledge, skill and collegial support that will enable them to translate their new ideas and approaches into a publishable format that can be disseminated to others.
