March 26, 2024Throughout the duration of the Northern Health Timely Emergency Care Collaborative (TECC) project, robust consumer engagement has been a cornerstone.
Led by the Department of Health, this two-year initiative has involved collaboration with 14 health services and Ambulance Victoria, all aimed at enhancing access to timely care. Significant strides have been made across various fronts on the project, focusing on key access indicators including prompt patient handover upon ambulance arrival, reduced Emergency Department (ED) lengths of stay and minimised wait times for accessing sub-acute services.
The TECC project began in late 2022 and is scheduled to conclude by the end of June 2024. Throughout its duration, two consumers, Karyn Findlay and Evan Bichara, have played active roles in contributing to its success.
Every four months, large learning sessions are held, gathering staff from all health services to share progress and plan the upcoming phases of work. These sessions serve as crucial checkpoints for consumers like Karyn and Evan to offer feedback on ongoing efforts and collaborate on designing new ideas for trailing. Their involvement has been instrumental in tasks such as reviewing brochures, conducting ED walkthroughs, and developing processes for early morning discharge communication.
During the February Learning Session, the team engaged with Karyn, a primary school teacher deeply involved in her local community, who shared her invaluable insights into the project based on her extensive experience with Northern Health services. Karyn has consistently offered pragmatic and logical perspectives, particularly emphasising her passionate support for ED initiatives. She expressed admiration for “the collective dedication of Northern Health personnel to serve the entire northern region”. Furthermore, Karyn highlighted her appreciation for the commitment of senior staff members to enhance services, noting their genuine consideration of community feedback in all decision-making processes.
Laura Hughes, Transformation Unit and TECC project lead, commented, “Both Karyn and Evan have contributed significantly to the TECC project and have constantly given us valuable feedback on complex access problems. Active consumer engagement can be done via patient surveys and feedback; however, we find consumer participation in the actual process to be most helpful”.
The project team will continue to work with consumers until the end of the project and are looking forward to continuing the partnership following the end of June 2024.
Pictured in featured image top row (L-R): Sandeep Sharma, Consultant Physician, Karyn Findlay consumer, Lora Davies, Divisional Director, Access and Subacute Services, Linda Romano, Divisional Director, Emergency Services, Edward Savill, Divisional Director, Medicine and Cancer Services.
Bottom row (L-R): Laura Hughes, TECC project lead, Rhiannon Cooper, NUM Ward 20, Simone Motton, Director Allied Health.
