Page 4060 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 23 October 2018
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deep and ongoing commitment to improving our health system for both staff and consumers alike.
Staff who deliver front-line health services to the Canberra community now work in a dedicated health services delivery organisation, Canberra Health Services. A second organisation, the ACT Health Directorate, is responsible for strategic policy, research and planning and will set the strategic direction for health services across the ACT.
The creation of two health organisations has enabled a clearer focus on efficiency and effectiveness for clinical operations and enabled the ACT Health Directorate to undertake core strategy and system stewardship functions. This change is an essential evolution for our growing population and expanding public health system and has also brought about greater clarity between the distinct roles and responsibilities of front-line staff and corporate staff supporting the delivery of health care for our community. This reform will ensure that as Canberra continues to grow we will keep delivering quality health services into the future.
I will briefly outline, for members’ awareness, some of the journey to bring us to where we are today. ACT Health commenced transition activities by conducting a form and function review in April 2018, with a view to clarifying statutory roles across the organisation, ensuring appropriate accountability and resourcing and realigning the disparate functions across ACT Health in readiness for the organisational separation occurring in October. This led to the creation of an interim organisational structure which streamlined reporting lines and the organisational hierarchy.
The next phase of the transition process was to conduct detailed planning, which included defining the purpose, functions and relationships of and between the service delivery organisation and the planning and policy organisation. It was essential that these relationships were supported by effective governance models, management and accountability to create better flow of information and collaboration across the organisation.
This process involved extensive consultation with key stakeholders, including staff, to seek their views on the governance model and key relationships required to ensure effective functioning of both organisations. A dedicated transition office undertook regular staff and stakeholder communications and engagement activities to ensure the delivery of a model that would work on the ground for both staff and ACT health consumers.
To date, this work has included over 240 one-on-one meetings, 58 presentations and group forums, seven leadership workshops, four all-staff forums, and 11 external stakeholder meetings, as well as responding to many direct staff submissions. Discussions were held with staff associations and industrial organisations, and a formal consultation period with staff was undertaken, in keeping with good change management practice and our obligations under relevant industrial agreement. This period allowed staff the opportunity to formally contribute to the final stage of design of the organisations.
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