Page 3934 - Week 11 - Thursday, 26 September 2019
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the considerable work underway across the ACT public health system really commenced some 12 months ago, across these two organisations and within Calvary’s public services.
At a high level, we are developing a system-wide approach within the ACT that recognises that there are some things that differentiate the ACT public health system from other jurisdictions. The whole-of-system approach also acknowledges the organisational differences between the entities that comprise the system. The purpose of developing a system-wide approach is to deliver meaningful cultural change that can be sustained and measured over the medium to long term.
This work is being supported by immediate, detailed work within each organisation that specifically targets the challenges identified not only in the culture review but by the new leadership of the ACT Health Directorate and Canberra Health Services. Our goal is for the ACT health system’s workforce to feel safe, supported, valued and engaged. This is directly related to enhancing patient outcomes and experience.
The considerable whole-of-system work underway is currently in the initiation and planning phase, with the focus being on establishing strong foundations to ensure success as the program develops and initiatives are implemented. The focus at this time has been on establishing strong governance processes, coupled with ensuring that executive leaders have been appointed to ensure that we have the right people in place to lead a contemporary health service across the ACT. Madam Speaker, I would like to outline the foundational activities undertaken to date to progress this important work.
A strong governance framework is recognised as one indicator of a positive workplace culture. The government established the culture review oversight group to support and oversee the implementation of the recommendations, in line with recommendation 18 of the review. To date the oversight group has met three times, with agreement at the most recent meeting on 4 September to increase the frequency from quarterly to bimonthly. It was certainly heartening to hear at the September meeting, which was my first meeting with the group, that people are feeling optimistic about the work underway.
As you may recall, on 16 May, the former Minister for Health and Wellbeing, the Minister for Mental Health, the Director-General of the ACT Health Directorate, the Chief Executive Officer of Canberra Health Services and the Regional Chief Executive Officer of Calvary ACT signed a public commitment to collectively implement the recommendations from the culture review to ensure that cultural reform remains a priority across the public health services.
To further support this commitment, other members of the culture review oversight group unanimously agreed to state their commitment in supporting and driving a positive workplace culture across the ACT public health system. The organisation representatives on the oversight group signed a stakeholder commitment at the 4 September meeting. This supports recommendation 17 from the review.
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