Local hospital, Mercy Hospital Mt Lawley, has been applauded today for its developments in improving quality, safety and clinical outcomes for patients.
The hospital has received a $30,000 grant from the Medibank Private Safety and Clinical Improvement Incentive Pool (MPSCIIP). The grant was officially received at an event held this morning at the hospital attended by senior hospital and Medibank Private staff, representatives from local MP, Dr. Judy Edwards' office, and Bayswater Mayor, Terry Kenyon.
The incentive pool - totalling more than $900,000 distributed across Australia - was established by Medibank Private to support initiatives aimed at improving quality and safety in private hospitals. It allows the health fund to work with private hospitals, like Mercy Hospital Mt Lawley, to reduce the risk of adverse events and encourage innovation and best practice in clinical care in Australian private hospitals.
Mercy Hospital Mt Lawley intends to use the grant to introduce new systems that will improve the clinical care and experience for pre-booked surgical patients, through to discharge. The project is expected to have a dramatic impact on the quality of care for patients, and satisfaction for nurses, and other health care professionals.
Mr Garry England, Chief Executive of Mercy Hospital Mt Lawley, said, "Mercy is committed to providing high standards of healthcare, with a reputation for quality and safety. The grant from Medibank Private is a unique and exciting opportunity to further enhance our processes and systems through the continuum of care."
"The project will be conducted over a 12 month period and will be co-ordinated by a Clinical Nurse Manager," he said.
"Medibank's incentive pool allows us to work with hospitals to improve clinical outcomes. We want better health outcomes for our members and the MPSCIIP forces us to do more than just talk about improving quality and safety," said Medibank Private's Contract Manager, Slade Logan.
"We are assisting hospitals to be more innovative, to lift the bar on current standards.
"Mercy Hospital Mt Lawley has taken some serious industry lessons on board about optimising patient flow. They are proactively acting on recommendations from bodies such as the Australian Council on Healthcare and looking to go one step further. This is exactly what Medibank Private is encouraging through the MPSCIIP.
"It's simple really - we want the best health outcomes for our members, we asked hospitals how they could do this, they told us and we are helping them make it a reality," he said.
OBJECTIVES OF MERCY HOSPITAL'S PROJECT:
� Streamline the admission process making the experience easier for patient and hospital
� Increase patient's understanding and involvement in planning their care post surgery
� Increase focus on patient's continued care by all involved health care professionals from referral to discharge
� Introduce a risk assessment for patients on admission and as part of the discharge process to improve awareness and care of specific individual needs
� Decrease unnecessary overnight stays for patients
FACTS ABOUT THE MEDIBANK PRIVATE SAFETY AND CLINICAL IMPROVEMENT INCENTIVE POOL:
� Originally $500,000 was made available in 2006, but due to the quality of applications this increased to over $900,000.
� 34 hospitals across Australia were successful in their application
� Total value of approved proposals is $907,488
� Major areas of innovation of applications included:
Falls prevention and management
Improving management of medication
Discharge and re-admission planning
Pressure ulcer management
Improving patient communication and education
� A pool of $1 million will be available for distribution in 2007.
ENDS
For further information please contact: Libby Woolnough - Medibank Private
T. (03) 8622 5181 or 0411 659 060 E: libby_Woolnough@medibank.com.au