Sharing good practice in healthcare delivery

Sharing good practice within Victoria's health sector is vital to ensure continuous improvement can be made in the delivery of efficient and effective health services.The department has supported a number of fora for health services to share their ideas and practices on winter planning, managing aggression and the interface between ambulance and emergency departments. Presentations from more recent fora are available below for download from this webpage. For copies of other presentations please contact the department.

Improving access and flow: A whole of hospital forum – 28 November 2016

This forum focussed on encouraging continuing best practice around improving access and flow and a whole of health system response to demand pressures. The forum explored strategies to improve access and flow, as well as best practice approaches and opportunities to improve patient flow through a whole-of-hospital approach, and sharing best practice with the sector.

Forum content

Over 150 attendees registered to attend with 12 presenters across tertiary, metropolitan, regional, rural and private hospitals, as well as the Grattan Institute, Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, and Ambulance Victoria, presenting on the day.

The following topics were covered:

• hospital safety and quality assurance in Victoria
• managing ambulance and emergency department demand
• effective use of hospital data
• improving the interface between wards and the emergency department
• innovative models of care, including paediatrics, behavioural assessment units, and acute aged care
• improving linkages with community based services
• use of short stay units

Presentations

• Dr Stephen Duckett - Quality and safety in Victoria
• Dr James Fielding - Influenza surveillance in Victoria
• A/Prof Bill Nimorakiotakis - The development of a paediatric service at Epworth
• Dr Shaun Greene - Adopting a combined model of early patient assessment and disposition planning
• Michael Stephenson - Managing ambulance and emergency department demand
• Denis O’Leary - Driving proactive planning through effective use of data
• Dr Thomas Chan - It’s not just about beds: improving the interface between wards and ED
• Professor George Braitberg, Behavioural Assessment Unit - not just Criminal Minds
• A / Professor Mary O’Reilly - Acute aged care in the community – Improving the client experience and providing ED diversion
• Dr Ian Wilson, Breaking down silos

Winter planning forum - 29 April 2015

This forum focused on a whole-of-health system approach to meet increased demand over winter. The forum shared good practice and identified innovative approaches to address seasonal challenges, including increasing patient presentations and complexity over winter.

Forum content

The forum provided an opportunity for the sector to discuss such strategies as:

• whole-of-hospital responses to demand pressures
• maximising bed capacity
• infectious control strategies
• escalation processes
• improving the ambulance/emergency department interface
• role of private hospitals
• innovative models of care.

Presentations

• Has winter changed? A CEO perspective on whole-of-hospital winter planning Alan Lilly
• Improving community paediatric services to reduce ED presentations John Walker and Rod Wilson
• Dampening the winter surge: the private hospital system Ron Sultana
• Winter planning: A new look? A whole-of-health service approach Charlene MacLeod
• Use of BI tools to drive process improvement Kate Burns
• The new frontier Shyaman Menon
• Northern Health: alternative models of care to support older people in the community Jenni Smith
• Patient admission prediction to maximising bed capacity, creative solutions and infection control Fiona Webster
• Enhancing communication and responses with Ambulance Victoria Michael Stephenson
• Standard daily work Ben Kelly
• The complex discharge: The 5 step process Janice Osteraas
• Winter planning: an NHS perspective Michael Sheridan
• Improving ambulance transfer performance Simon Judkins and Michael Stephenson

Prevention and management of violence and aggression in hospitals forum - 17 June 2014

This multidisciplinary forum represented the second in a series of planned forums aimed at supporting health services to address local safety and security concerns.

Forum content

The following topics were covered:

• whole-of-government responses to safety and security requirements
• pre-escalation approaches to support the prevention of violence and aggression
• enhanced responses to incidents of clinical aggression
• clinical aggression training for hospital and security staff
• best practice examples of organisational responses to violence and aggression.

Presentations

• Improving hospital safety and security John Mulder
• Mental health directions Tracy Beaton
• Preventing and managing violence and aggression Barbara Stevens
• Mental Health Act 2014 Robyn Humphries
• Operational safety, critical communication Senior Sergeant Matt Hargreaves
• Supporting EDs in providing care for mental health consumers Andrea Hall
• Improving the patient experience in emergency Alisha Bedggood
• Aggression and violence at work: Stuff Happens Professor Gerry Farrell
• ICE to meet you Daniel Eltringham
• Better Responses, Safer Hospitals: Standards for Code Grey Sue O'Sullivan
• Code Grey at the Royal Children's Hospital Charlie Bowes
• Prioritising violence and aggression: A rural health care perspective Trevor Roberts
• Reducing restrictive interventions Dr Rosemary Charleston
• Northern Police Ambulance Clinician Emergency Response (NPACER) Steve Brown

Winter planning forum - 9 May 2014

The forum provided an opportunity for the sector to discuss strategies for dealing with the winter increase in patient demand.

Forum content

The following topics were covered:

• managing emergency demand
• whole-of-hospital response to demand pressures
• maximising bed capacity
• managing workforce needs
• escalation processes
• role of private hospitals
• perspectives from other jurisdictions
• innovative models of care.

Presentations

• Dr Elizabeth Deveny - Innovative responses to managing emergency demand
• Dr Tony Kambourakis - ED redesign at Monash Medical Centre
• Dr Bill Nimorakiotakis - How Epworth can be part of the winter solution
• Associate Professor Peter Hunter - Subacute Flex: Matching subacute capacity to demand
• Tobi Wilson - Consultant-led models driving improved flow
• Dean Jones - A whole-of-health service approach to managing access
• Martin Keogh - Managing workforce needs
• Tobi Wilson - Consultant-led models driving improved flow
• Dr David Rosengren - Queensland's experience with the Metropolitan ED Access Initiative (MEDAI)
• Dr Fergus Kerr - Ambulance Transfer Taskforce Report and progress on implementation of recommendations
• Associate Professor Tony Walker - Ambulance Transfer Taskforce Report and progress on implementation of recommendations
• Brendon Gardner - Same struggles, different results

ED/Ambulance Interface Forum - 25 June 2013

This forum was initiated by the Emergency Access Reference Committee, which provides advice to the Department of Health on improving access to emergency care in public hospitals.

Forum content

The key focus of the forum was on whole-of-health service strategies to manage ED patient flow and improve the ED/ambulance interface. Content included:

• whole-of-health service responses to demand pressures
• best practice examples
• perspectives from other jurisdictions
• innovative models of care.

Presentations

• David Eddey - Effective management of ambulance patients into the ED
• Kate Brockman – Whole-of-hospital approach to improving access
• Kate Burns - Patient Flow Management System
• George Braitberg - Improving the ED/ambulance interface at Monash Health
• Michelle Kotis - Promoting a safe consumer focused alternative to inpatient care the Eastern@Home experience
• Martin Keogh - Using flex beds to create additional capacity
• Bridget Organ - Managing the demand of mental health consumers in ED

Prevention and management of violence and aggression in hospitals forum - 16 April 2013

This was the first forum in a series on prevention and management of violence and aggression in hospitals.

Forum content

The following topics were covered:

• information on best practice responses to violence at organisations and available training
• information on the legislative environment including duty of care and mental health
• perspectives on barriers to addressing violence and aggression and how to overcome them
• an expert panel discussion about the clinical aspects of preventing and managing violence and aggression.

Presentations

• Katy Fielding - Government action to improve safety and security in hospitals
• Toni Tosti - Tools, resources and best practice examples to support hospitals
• John Mulder - Improving hospital safety and security ministerial advisory committee
• Elizabeth Kennedy - Legal context of delivering care
• Jonathan Knott - Training in prevention and management of aggression and violence
• Trevor Roberts - Best practice response: A rural hospital perspective
• Trevor Olsson - Best practice responses: A regional hospital perspective
• Barbara Stevens - Best practice responses: A metropolitan hospital perspective
• Danny Hills - Preventing and managing aggression: Evidence
• Cathy Daniel - First step in prevention
• Rose Palmer - System response, Code Grey
• Sue Cowling - Safe environment, behavioural assessment room
• Adrian Griffin - Pathway to mental health
• Jonathan Knott - Use of chemical restraint: pros and cons