HOSPITAL NEWS
New Clinical Quality & Safety Framework
Ramsay Health Care Australia has developed a new Clinical Quality and Safety framework to ensure
the continued delivery of high-quality, safe, and effective clinical care. The organisation aims to create
an environment in which risks and issues are anticipated, identified early, and responded to rapidly.
The new framework is comprised of five key pillars designed to produce reliable, safe, and effective
outcomes: People, Safety, Structure, Culture, and Improvement.
Involving consumers
& patients in safety
Ramsay Health Plus
A range of new programs have been developed by several Ramsay Health Plus (RHP) sites in recent months.
John Flynn
The team at John Flynn has been piloting a new allied health
program in partnership with radiation oncology provider
Genesis Care. The program provides improved access to
speech pathology and dietetics for people living with head
and neck cancers. The pilot provides the ability for people
attending their radiation oncology treatments to access these
vital services at the same location, greatly improving the
coordination of care across the clinical team as well as reducing
the additional travel burden for consumers and their families.
Hollywood
A new program focusing on the importance of prescribed,
graded exercise interventions for people with eating disorders
has commenced at RHP Hollywood. The program focuses on
providing support to people with eating disorders following
their discharge from an acute care setting. The program seeks
to build on the emerging evidence base, highlighting that a
monitored and nutritionally supported exercise program can
lead to positive effects on quality of life, body composition
and primary health markers. Both individual and group
sessions are available. RHP Hollywood is also developing
a new lymphoedema screening and management service
in collaboration with the Breast Cancer Research Centre of
Western Australia. This will greatly improve access to these
vital services for people living in Perth and its surrounds.
Donvale
A new program dedicated to the management of osteoarthritis
has commenced at RHP Donvale. The program, originally
developed in Denmark, focuses on education, weight loss and
exercise as core tenets of first line treatment for osteoarthritis.
The program pays particular attention to ensuring the
education and exercise principles can be applied to everyday
activities. By strengthening and correcting daily movement
patterns, participants can train their bodies to move properly,
prevent symptom progression and reduce pain.
Figtree & Wollongong
A new integrated weight management service has been
established in conjunction with the RHP team in the Illawarra,
providing services at both Figtree and Wollongong. The
service provides people who have metabolic health conditions
with the opportunity to access services in a coordinated
and cost-effective manner. Initial assessment clinics provide
access to a general practitioner, bariatric specialist nurse and
dietitian. In consultation with the consumer, Endocrinologists
and Bariatric Surgeons, an appropriate care pathway is
then developed. This may include conservative or surgical
management. Various pathways are also being developed to
allow for access to dietitians, exercise physiologists and clinical
psychologists as part of a broader care program designed to
enhance each health consumer’s individual outcomes.
Minimising harm &
preventable mortality
• Effective clinical incident
management
• Morbidity & mortality
processes
• Sharing lessons learnt
• Building system
reliability
Patient &
consumer
experience
Complaints
management
Open
disclosure
& quality
Staff
engagement
& staff health
Improvement
Culture
Safety
Structure
People
Continuous
improvement
• Spread and
sustainability
of best practice
• Data for improvement
• Human factors design
• Improvement initiatives
Structure & processes
for clinical safety
• Accreditation
• Credentialing
• Policy & Procedures
• Reporting for Clinical
Safety
• Facility Rules
Culture for safety
& improvement
• Speak Up For
Patient Safety
• Team effectiveness
• Leadership
• Building workforce
capability
Internal Ramsay
emergency?
Call ‘2222’
Ramsay Health Care will be the first private hospital
operator in Australia to standardise its internal
emergency phone number to ‘2222’ across all
of its sites.
National Manager of Clinical Quality and Patient Safety,
Dr Bernadette Eather, said this important patient safety initiative
was designed to provide consistency and reduce confusion.
“In an emergency, when every moment counts, it is vital to
ensure clinical staff have certainty when making the urgent
phone call for help,” Dr Eather said.
“A standardised number is important in minimising risks
and avoiding delays, especially for staff who move
between facilities.”
The Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists and
the Australian Resuscitation Council have also urged state and
federal governments to implement 2222 as the standardised
number for all their hospitals.
The number is being introduced in several states and
territories, with the ACT and NSW Health departments
announcing the introduction from 1 December 2018 in their
public hospitals.
More than 50 different internal emergency phone numbers
exist in Australia’s hospital system, and doctors want this figure
reduced to one.
2222 has already been standardised in Britain and is currently
being implemented in a number of European countries.
Ramsay Health Care will begin to introduce the 2222
emergency number in its facilities in early 2019. More than 70
of its Australian sites, including hospitals and day surgery units,
are expected to transition to the number within 12 months.
The Ramsay Way 2018 | 04 9