Dear colleagues
This is the first Surgery Newsletter for 2017 and it’s important to acknowledge that our operating environment has changed since my message in the December issue. We have two new Ministers; Ministers Hazzard and Davies. In the last few months have been extremely busy as we assist the Ministers and their staff as they get up to speed in their portfolios and we adapt to the way they would like business to be conducted.
It is nearly the start of April and it has been a busy time in all our hospitals. The February Elective Surgery Access Performance (ESAP) results for all categories are at or just below target Year to date:
These results and outcomes do not occur by chance. They arise from the deliberate effort and commitment from many staff across a range of clinical, technical and administrative services to provide the best health care. Your work is appreciated and valued.
The total number of overdue patients across all categories is 19% below the number overdue in February 2016. Weekly monitoring and fortnightly teleconferences also continue across a number of hospitals in relation to their overdue lists. Our on-time elective surgery performance in NSW is the best in the country. We all want to continue on this path of ensuring all our patients receive their elective surgery within the recommended timeframe.
I was pleased to hear that so many of you had the opportunity to attend the Professional Development Day for Surgery Waitlist Managers and Booking Officers at the Harbourview Hotel on 10 March. I am sure that the presentations gave you a lot to think about on what’s happening from a state-wide perspective and how you could improve the surgical journey at your hospital. I also hope it provided you with opportunities for networking and growth.
As we all know health care is a 24 hour a day 7 day a week endeavour and does not take a break. For those that are rostered to work over Easter, I thank you in advance for providing care across our 230 hospitals and other health services. Thank you for your ongoing commitment and dedication to providing first class health care to the community we serve.
Kind regardsElizabeth Wood
The Ministry of Health recently held its inaugural Professional Development Day on 10 March 2017. This event was tailored to encourage excellence and inspire opportunities for networking and growth. It covered everything from performance and elective surgery data collection, presentations from other Local Health Districts, an update on what’s happening from a state-wide perspective and a session on conflict resolution and negotiation skills using real Booking Office scenarios.
The evaluation report found that participants were happy to learn about redesign projects happening in other Local Health Districts and were grateful for the networking opportunity. 51% of participants rated the event as very good and 33% rated it as excellent.
A huge thank you to the guest speakers - Grant Isedale and Tania Kasjan, South Western Sydney Local Health District, James Brinton Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, Carmen Hoffman and Brian Julien Western Sydney Local Health District for sharing on the wonderful work occurring in their Districts.
Compared with the same quarter last year:
187 more people were ready for surgery and on the elective surgery waiting list at the end of the quarter (73,430 in total; up 0.3%). Of these:
The National Bowel Cancer Screening Program (the ‘Program’) invites people aged 50 -74 years to screen for bowel cancer at home. Cancer Institute NSW has the responsibility for the Program in NSW, including provision of the Participant Follow Up Function service, known as PFUF.
The PFUF service complements program reminder letters and care coordination to encourage participants along the screening pathway following a positive faecal occult blood test (FOBT). This includes follow up with their GP and any diagnostic investigations (usually colonoscopy) which PFUF officers update in the Program register.
The Surgery Redesign Training Program is being overhauled in 2017 following an in-depth review which included valuable participant feedback. The five day face-to-face program – aimed at developing the foundation skills of project management, change management, process improvement and clinical redesign – will now be broken down into separate one and two-day sessions across the year. This will enable busy clinicians, nurses and managers who might otherwise not be able to take part to attend the training.
Each session can now be taken as a one-off or in succession and are pitched at both introductory and advanced levels to ensure all participants receive training appropriate to their experience and ability to influence. The new one-day-courses have been rebranded as Sprint LABS (Learning and Building for Surgery).
The course is aimed at both individuals and project teams, particularly those with a proposed surgical project which they would like to develop and implement – ideally one which can be completed in three to six months. Participants are exposed to state-based approaches in their specialty, and have the opportunity to hear from clinical leaders and experts, as well as learn from other health staff in the program.
Three individual one-day courses will now be available at introductory and advanced levels – Project Management Planning, Diagnostics, and Planning and Solutions. The 2-day Accelerating Implementation Methodology (AIM) course will continue to be delivered twice a year, giving participants a practical guide to effectively managing change by overcoming personal and cultural barriers. The first Introduction to Project Management Planning one-day course will be held on 12th July 2017.
Cataract surgery is the most common elective surgery in NSW and this forum provides an opportunity for hospital and primary health staff to showcase their own work in a poster competition, network and have the opportunity to discuss current and future challenges in eye health care.
The day will focus on:
For further inquiries please contact:Sarah Jane Waller, Ophthalmology Network ManagerEmail: sarahjane.waller@health.nsw.gov.auPhone: (02) 9464 4645
The team from Shoalhaven Hospital - Leanne Davey, Nurse Manager Perioperative Services, Raeline Phillips, Registered Nurse Day Surgery & Kerrie O’Leary, Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District Clinical Redesign Co-ordinator in partnership with Bradley Scotcher, Deputy Director of Nursing / Project Sponsor & Prof Martin Jones, Clinical Lead / HOD Surgery with Shoalhaven staff on the Pre-Op to Theatre: Ready & on Time project. It involved the redesign of preoperative screening & triage processes, preadmission staff work allocation schedules and improve systems that included preoperative wellness checks and text messaging reminders. Team communication huddles & theatre forecast meetings were introduced to improve first case on time.
By December 2016:
For any enquiries please contactLeanne Davey, Nurse Manager / Perioperative Suite, Shoalhaven Hospital Email: leanne.davey@sesiahs.health.nsw.gov.auPhone: (02) 4423 9419
Throughout January, there have been a number of changes in Cabinet at both the Federal and State Level, several of which impact NSW Health.
At Federal Level, Sussan Ley announced her resignation as the Federal Minister for Health and Aged Care on 13 January, 2017.Greg Hunt is the new Federal Minister for Health. He was previously the Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, and was awarded the inaugural Best Minister in the World award last year at the World Government Summit hosted by the United Arab Emirates.
The portfolio of Aged Care has passed to Ken Wyatt, who was the previous Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, and worked at the Ministry in the role of Aboriginal Health Director for four years. He is the first Indigenous Australian to be appointed to a Federal Cabinet position and was sworn in as the new Federal Minister for Aged Care and Minister for Indigenous Health.
At the State level, 18 January 2017 marked the resignation of NSW Premier Mike Baird, who has been replaced by the previous NSW Treasurer, Gladys Berejiklian.
According to the Bureau of Health Information Report, during the October to December 2016 quarter, a total of 54,812 elective surgical procedures were performed. This was 1,457 (2.7%) more than in the same quarter last year. Of all the elective surgical procedures performed this quarter, 22.5% were categorised as urgent, 32.9% as semi-urgent, and 39.6% as non-urgent. A further 5.0% were categorised as staged.
Orthopaedic surgery and ophthalmological surgery were the specialties with the most patients waiting at the end of the quarter. Together, these specialties made up 49.6% of all patients waiting for elective surgery in NSW public hospitals. Medical (non-specialist) surgery and cardiothoracic surgery had the smallest number of patients waiting.
What did you think of this edition of the Surgery Newsletter?
Do you have some feedback on one of our stories, or do you have a story idea? We would love to hear from you.
Email the editors at:
Ms Melinda PascoeEmail: mpasc@doh.health.nsw.gov.auPhone: (02) 9391 9557
Ms Chrissie CrawfordEmail: ccraw@doh.health.nsw.gov.auPhone: (02) 9391 9394