Page 4061 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 23 October 2018
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On 6 September the interim director-general released the proposed structure to all staff, and the formal consultation of two weeks attracted over 400 pieces of feedback and commentary. On 26 September all staff were provided with the final structure, to enable the organisations to be established and ready for business on 1 October. The new structure defines the shape and functions of both new organisations and provides a very clear description of what our health system does and how it operates.
The structure highlights the realities of running a large and modern health system and illustrates both my and the new leadership team’s commitment to supporting the delivery of health services with the right resources. Our shared focus is on improving patient outcomes, and this structure allows each organisation to really drive the improvements we all want to see.
It is important to recognise that the key milestone date of 1 October was not the end of the transition process. The transitioning to two new organisations includes a stabilise and refine phase. This will allow us to further refine processes and internal structures as the organisations are fully established.
Staff feedback and consultation will continue to be a key element of this phase. In a true partnership model I remain committed to enabling and encouraging staff, stakeholders and the community to continue to invest in this change process. I know the leaders of both organisations are deeply committed to this. Indeed, the leadership of both Canberra Health Services and the ACT Health Directorate, along with my colleague the Minister for Mental Health and I, are very proud of the achievements to date and are firmly focused on continuing this improvement.
For patients, consumers and their families the transition has been a seamless one. People visiting our public hospitals, popular nurse-led walk-in centres or accessing the many community-based health services that we offer have continued to be seen by the same hardworking and dedicated people who work to deliver health care to our community. Indeed, we are working to improve the experience for Canberrans with this transition, and on 1 October a new ACT Health website was launched to help make it easier for the community to access information about Canberra’s health services.
The new website brings a wealth of information on the ACT public health system together in a single site so that the community can access information in one location, including information on Calvary Public Hospital, recognising that Calvary continues to be a key partner in delivering public health services across the territory now and into the future. The new health website is the first step in providing better, more meaningful information to the public, with work underway to continue to improve access to health data online and in real time. These are improvements that I look forward to making further announcements about as this work progresses.
This transition milestone of ACT Health becoming two new organisations further sets us on the path of ensuring a high performing health service that is transparent and accessible for our community. I have heard people say—and I have said it myself—that ACT Health has turned a corner. From here it is important that the two new organisations are able to become established, grow and improve.
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