RDNS 2009 Annual Report - Royal District Nursing Service

Report from the Chairman & CEOIt is our pleasure to bring to you the AnnualReport, covering a year of achievement anda year of challenges. Much has happenedwithin Royal District Nursing Service; muchhas happened or been mooted in healthcareat Commonwealth government level; we havehad to deal with the impact of the global financialcrisis and we have been busy pursuing excitingstrategic directions.The Board of Directors has determined, inconjunction with senior management, a pathof growth and diversification for RDNS whichhas already seen us set up services and officesin Hobart, in conjunction with the TasmanianDepartment of Health and Human Services,and in Wellington and Auckland in New Zealand.Our new New Zealand subsidiary has secureda contract with the Auckland District HealthBoard, so that Royal District Nursing ServiceNew Zealand now employs over 100 staffcaring for some 500 clients. We see this asan important step in establishing a substantialRDNS presence in New Zealand, employingNew Zealand staff and sharing our clinicalexpertise in community care. Implementationof RDNS services in Auckland presentedmany challenges and opportunities and it isa credit to all involved that this has been sucha success, with much positive feedback aboutthe quality of our services and the skills of ourNew Zealand staff.In parallel, we are looking to extend the depthand breadth of our services in Australia andwe have been successful in gaining fundingfrom the Commonwealth government forCommunity Aged Care Packages (CACPS)and Extended Aged Care at Home Packages(EACH and EACH-D) of care. We have beengranted provider status by WorkSafe Victoriato undertake worker health checks undera newly-established government initiative,which encourages employers to promote theimportance of health checks such as bloodpressure, cholesterol and blood glucosechecks to their staff.We are strongly committed to growingRDNS to expand our services beyond historicboundaries, and work continues to increaseboth our revenue base and geographiccoverage. Our plan requires this to be donequickly and without the assumption of unduerisk. We look forward to reporting the resultsof our efforts next year.We underwent a full Australian Council onHealthcare Standards (ACHS) accreditationsurvey in the second half of 2008 and receivedmany notable and affirming comments fromthe surveyors, including:‘A leader in home nursing services…RDNS is leading the way withinnovative care.’‘RDNS is recognised as a leaderin domiciliary care.’(Report of the September 2008 AustralianCouncil on Healthcare StandardsOrganisation-Wide Accreditation Evaluationand Quality Improvement Program Survey ofRDNS, including assessment against HACCNational Service Standards).Our Customer Service Centre (CSC), whichis now in its second year of full operation,is drawing great interest from many acrossthe health industry, both in Victoria andbeyond. We set out some years ago toestablish a centre which, whilst technicallyadvanced, would offer meaningful supportand improved levels of personalised service toour clients, stakeholders and staff. This is nowbeing achieved, with industry best practiceperformance levels being routinely deliveredand, importantly, the capability to adapt to thechanging face of health and community-basedcare. In Tasmania and New Zealand, we haveeffectively mirrored aspects of the technologywhich sits behind our Melbourne CSC, enablingus to enter new health markets and delivernew services.The financial position of RDNS remains sound.Our balance sheet is strong, with a very goodequity position and no debt. However, wehave had to endure a downturn in the valueof our investments and a reduction in theearnings coming from our investments. Further,the capacity of many donors has also beenrestrained in the wake of the financial downturn.Royal District Nursing Service – Annual Report 2009| 3