Page 2821 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 14 August 2018
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services in Canberra, with Clare Holland House the largest palliative care in-patient unit in the ACT. Demand for palliative care will continue to increase as our population ages and people live longer. We need to respond to this so that people receive the care and dignity they deserve at the end of their life. I welcome the conversations and evidence provided to the end of life inquiry and very much look forward to its recommendations to the government.
As I have recently said in the Assembly, in recognising some of the recent challenges in the health portfolio we have been working very hard on delivering the government’s health priorities. As part of this we are making the funding decisions necessary through the budget process to ensure we are responding in a responsible and sustainable way to fund our health system into the future and targeting money to front-line healthcare services so that the system can respond to the needs of our community as appropriate. This is what we need for a modern health system and it is what the government is delivering through this budget.
Later this week and next week I will also be providing extensive updates on progress in maternity services on the ACT system-wide data review and, very importantly, an update on the accreditation process that ACT Health recently went through. IÂ particularly note the accreditation process and was delighted for ACT Health to receive accreditation late last month. I would particularly like to note and thank the staff of ACT Health for their considerable efforts since March this year to come together as an organisation, proud of the high quality professional service that they deliver to Canberrans every day of the year, to receive such a positive response from the surveyors when they returned.
I will relate to the Assembly some of the comments from the surveyors in their return to ACT Health in July to provide ACT Health with full accreditation. These comments included:
Over the past few months the organisation has changed dramatically, implementing sustainable systems and processes that provide direction and strong governance from both a corporate and clinical governance perspective.
The surveyors would like to acknowledge the extensive work done by the staff across ACT Health, plus the leadership to achieve this result. They demonstrate commitment and focus to drive sustainable, positive change in the culture of the organisation. They have moved from a fragmented, divided organisation to one of cohesion, teamwork, focused on what is best for the patient and the organisation to achieve great outcomes for all Canberrans.
The corporate and clinical governance frameworks and supporting documents have provided staff, at all levels and designations, clear direction and accountabilities around their role in safety and quality.
The ACT Health leadership team are clear of the direction, their own roles and responsibilities and the expectations of the organisation. People are being held accountable but they are also recognised at all levels by the Director-General with a personalised phone call to acknowledge and thank them for their work. This has been very powerful in assisting with cultural change.
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