I believe in investing in our
workforce to empower and equip
our employees to take care of our
patients both now and into the
future. There are a number of ways
Ramsay supports staff to further
their education and training and to
engage in professional development
opportunities. We have a partner
scholarship program with the
University of Tasmania to offer a
range of diploma and postgraduate qualification scholarships
to eligible Ramsay Health Care employees. We had 438
students (employees) who either started or continued their
studies in Semester 2 of 2019! They enrolled in study options
such as a Bachelor of Health (Public Health) Professional
Honours, Bachelor of Nursing with Clinical Honours, Bachelor
of Nursing with Professional Honours, Diploma of Dementia
Care, Bachelor of Healthcare with Professional Honours,
Bachelor of Health and Human Sciences (Leadership)
Professional Honours, and others. If you are a Ramsay
employee who is interested in learning more, please email
Health.Partnerships@utas.edu.au.
This edition of The Ramsay Way is jam-packed with
interesting surgical news, research developments,
sustainability initiatives, mental health and cardiology news,
celebrations, milestones and much more.
You will read about an exciting environmental announcement:
Ramsay Australia has pledged to ban 24 million single-use
plastic items per year from all of our hospitals, day surgeries
and clinics by World Environment Day in June 2020. We are
targeting common types of disposable plastic items, such as
drinking cups, plates, straws, stirrers and medication cups,
and replacing them with environmentally friendly alternatives.
Waste reduction has been identified as a major area of global
focus and we wanted to take a proactive approach in this
regard. In addition to this major initiative, this edition of The
Ramsay Way also includes a range of other sustainability
programs underway at our facilities.
We are also making great strides in the quality and safety
space. This includes launching a new-look Clinical and Quality
Safety page on our Australian websites to boost transparency
and promote ease-of-use. We are also powering towards
completion of the Speak Up For Patient Safety program roll-out
and marking one year since launching the internationally-recognised
Net Promoter Score patient surveys.
Ramsay operates more than 20 hospitals and clinics located
in regional and rural areas in Australia. As a result, many of
our staff are unfortunately all too familiar with the devastating
effects of the drought. This is partly why we felt so strongly
about supporting the Buy From The Bush initiative, which
promotes rural shops and businesses affected by the
drought. Our 2019 Christmas card was created using artwork
we purchased from an artist who lives in rural NSW. By all
accounts, Buy From The Bush has been hugely beneficial for
these communities, and we are proud to be involved with this
great initiative.
Our thoughts have also been with the people and communities
recently affected by the devastating bushfire crisis in
New South Wales and Queensland. Some of these blazes
occurred near Ramsay facilities and our hospital executive
teams did a fantastic
job at implementing
our adverse event
framework which
deals with bushfires.
I want to thank all
staff who helped to
ensure the safety of
everyone at our sites
during this time, and to
acknowledge the Ramsay employees who volunteered to help
battle the blazes. It was pleasing to hear feedback about their
professional and hard work on the fire ground.
Finally, I would like to send warm wishes to you and your
loved ones for a safe and enjoyable holiday season. Thank
you for a great year and I hope 2020 provides you and your
family with good health and happiness. I look forward to
seeing you all in the new year.
Danny Sims
CEO, Ramsay Australia
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2 The Ramsay Way 2019 04
Ramsay buys from the bush to
support drought-affected communities
Ramsay Australia is supporting a community initiative called “Buy From The Bush”, which was
instigated to promote rural businesses affected by the drought.
Artwork for Ramsay Health Care's 2019 Christmas card
was purchased from a rural artist who lives on a farm just
outside Dubbo, NSW.
Jacinta Haycock is a mother of 11 whose passions are
family, the land, and art. She grew up on a sheep farm at
Carinda, three hours north-west of Dubbo. Her brother
still works on the original family farm but has faced three
consecutive years of below average rainfall, resulting in
no farm income.
While Jacinta creates artwork to help support her
family, she says her main motivation is to put a smile on
people’s faces.
Ramsay Australia CEO Danny Sims said the company
wanted to provide support as the drought had
proved extremely challenging not only for agricultural
businesses, but also smaller operations in these rural
communities.
“Ramsay operates more than 20 hospital and clinics
located in regional and rural areas in Australia.
As a result, many of our staff are unfortunately all too
familiar with the devastating effects of the drought,”
Mr Sims said.
“This is partly why we felt so strongly about supporting
the Buy From The Bush initiative.”
Se ason’ s G r e e t in g s fr om C raig M cN ally
2019 has been a really special year for us at Ramsay
Health Care. We’ve welcomed an additional 15,000
people to the Ramsay family after we acquired the
European company Capio and it’s fantastic to have
them all on board. This means we now have almost
80,000 team members, working in nearly 500
facilities, across 11 countries, providing care for
8.5 million patients.
These are big numbers; they make us one of the
largest private hospital operators in the world. But first
and foremost we remain people who care for people.
One of my major focus areas is to develop our
people, to give them the skills and tools they need to
deliver excellent health care not only for the current
generation, but future generations as well.
Our people have told us they care about
sustainability initiatives and we have been listening.
We’ve been doing a lot of work in the sustainability
space globally to protect and conserve the
environment, improve our workplaces and give
back to the
communities in
which we operate.
Caring for people is
how we continue to make a meaningful difference
in the lives of others. I want to thank you personally
for the work you do. As we draw closer to the end of
the year, I’d like to wish you and your loved ones joy,
peace and good health this holiday season – whether
you are taking some time off or are continuing to care
for the patients who need treatment at our facilities.
I look forward to working with you in the new year
and hope 2020 brings you happiness and good
fortune.
Craig McNally
Managing Director and CEO
Ramsay Health Care
RAMSAY AUSTRALIA
CEO MESSAGE
Artist Jacinta Haycock (fourth from left) with her family