Annual Report 2011 - Calvary Health Care Bethlehem

Our Services
On Our Wards
For St Luke, St Joseph and St Teresas’ wards it has been
a busy and challenging year. With our commitment to
strive for best quality of care for our patients, staff have
worked collaboratively this year to offer an interdisciplinary
approach. The progression of patient centred care is about
placing the patient, including their family, at the centre of
their health care, with their needs and wishes as paramount.
St Luke’s and St Joseph’s wards continued to support our
palliative care patients, while St Teresa’s ward provided
care for our patients with complex progressive neurological
illnesses, including Motor Neurone Disease, Huntington’s
Disease, advanced Parkinson’s Disease and complicated
Multiple Sclerosis.
One of the major events within St Luke’s ward has been
the completion of the Human Room. This multi-purpose
room has the capacity to project imagery and sound.
The concept of the Human Room is to place the patient
in a space which is calming, helps their cognitive changes,
delirium, confusion and works as a diversional therapy.
With the patient being calmer and engaged they are
less likely to become agitated and escalate to difficult
management situations. This results in a significant
improvement for the patient and their family, and requires
much less staff resource to manage.
Another environmental advancement has been the
refurbishment of the Jacaranda Room in St Teresa’s ward.
The cost of this refurbishment was made possible by
generous donations and the proceeds from a trivia night
hosted by a patient and their family. This room is used
by different people in various ways. Patients use it as a
quiet and reflective space or where they can be away from
their bedside. Another group of patients use this room
for diversional therapy, music and relaxation. Families
celebrate special occasions here, while children use this
room as an escape from the grief of illness at the bedside.
There have also been many significant operational changes
that have occurred this year on the wards including
1) A commitment to Palliative Care Outcome
Collaborative (PCOC). The wards have now been
collecting these assessments and entering them
into the database. The staff have been using these
assessments to track current patient progress and
care planning and the entry into the database for
submission as part of quality care.
2) The Functional Independence Measure (FIM)
has been introduced onto the wards. This is an
internationally recognised measurement tool, which
is used to collect information about the patient’s level
of dependence and ‘burden of care’ while at the hospital.
The Department of Health uses this information
to benchmark our patients against those at other
facilities to ensure that we are receiving adequate
funding in relation to our patient mix.
3) E-referrals to Allied Health. As part of our electronic
patient management system, staff are able to send
referrals electronically to different clinical teams,
replacing the out-dated paper process. This has
resulted in a number of improved efficiency and
communication outcomes on the wards.
Staff can observe if a referral has been placed,
what stage it is at, who is responsible and who to
communicate with. All staff have access
to the referrals from any computer.
4) In preparation for the implementation of a new
e-medication management system, St Luke’s ward
has changed their administration practice from using
a drug trolley to individual bedside locker storage
and dispensing. This supports the separation of work
and ease of administering medications in a timely
response not driven by ward round processes.
A foremost highlight for the wards has been the
employment of a Diversional Therapist under the
philanthropically funded Huntington’s Disease Pilot
Project. The project has enabled our patients with
Huntington’s Disease to engage in diversional activities
with the aim of improving their opportunities for social
interaction and engagement within an inpatient unit.
The results of the project have been extremely positive.
The impact of this project has been so significant for
patients, families, the ward and staff. St. Teresa’s ward
continues to be a world leader in the care of patients
with Huntington’s Disease; one of the few care places
where patients are cared for in a secure environment.
The impact of the diversional therapist program is such
that the patients are engaged with activity throughout
the day, reducing anxiety and resulting in less agitation
and escalating behaviour. Resulting in improved patient
wellbeing and a more efficient streamlined management
of staff resources.
Finally, staff continued to develop their skills through
professional development and education, participating
in palliative care certification, attending external study,
workshops and conferences to improve the services
offered on the ward and to ensure our patients receive
the best quality of care possible.
Calvary Health Care Bethlehem 2010 – 11 Annual Report
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