Page 1974 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 5 June 2018
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and above to ensure more timely and effective decision-making processes are in place to improve patient safety; that ongoing strategies are developed to clearly inform staff of their accountabilities and responsibilities in safety, quality and risk at all levels of the health service workforce; and that the current risk register be reviewed to ensure an effective and transparent system for monitoring risks across the health service.
Ensuring good governance is an important component of any organisation or business. It lays the foundations for its purpose and direction, and ensures all staff are aware of their responsibilities and accountabilities. ACT Health’s vision is “Your health, our priority”. This vision is well known within the organisation and within the community.
The directorate’s governance framework, clinical governance framework and corporate plan play an important role in guiding and demonstrating how the organisation goes about achieving this vision. While some of these documents may have been out of date at the time of the survey, the goals, objectives and principles within them do not in any way differ or alter the important work of the organisation, or the services that it provides.
ACT Health’s vision and values of care, excellence, collaboration and integrity represent what the staff believe is important and worthwhile, and guide what they do on a day-to-day basis. Improving the quality of health care across the ACT is a key priority for ACT Health, as it aims to be the safest healthcare system in Australia, delivering high-quality, person-centred care that is effective and efficient.
In the interest of moving ahead with addressing the governance issues in the not-met report, the directorate’s governance framework, clinical governance framework and corporate plan have been reviewed and updated to provide staff with a clear outline of reporting and accountability under the current organisational structure. These documents are currently being reviewed by the national standards leadership committee.
The business plan template has been updated to align with the corporate plan. This will enable divisions and branches to plan how they can achieve the strategies and goals of the organisation within their day-to-day business and service delivery.
In addition, to further strengthen governance, the directorate’s committee governance structure is being revised to ensure that there are clear mechanisms in place for cascading and escalating matters of strategy, policy, quality, safety and risk through the most appropriate and effective channels of the organisation.
I have been assured that ACT Health’s deputy directors-general have reviewed the current organisational risks. Policy and guideline documentation is being updated to reflect the revised committee governance structure and will include a risk escalation process and a clear link between identified risks and organisational priorities.
As the ACHS acknowledged during the organisation-wide survey in March, a significant body of work has been undertaken by the Health Directorate to engage with staff and consumers to develop a new quality strategy.
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