Portland District Health Annual Report 2005 - South West Alliance of ...

President & Chief Executive Officer’s ReportThe past year has presented many challenges andopportunities for Portland District Health (PDH).The major challenge has been workforce issues thathave impacted on our ability to meet activity targets.This has resulted in a loss of revenue and the needto strategically reposition the health service, so as tomanage and forecast the best mix of resources andtheir allocation for future service delivery.The primary focus of our efforts has, and will continueto be on the quality of services, the expected outcomesand cost of those services and access.Over recent months Portland District Health hasworked very closely with the Department of HumanServices (DHS) in developing a Financial RecoveryPlan. This framework will ensure the ongoing viabilityof Portland District Health and its ability to providetimely access to affordable quality services for thePortland district. We are very grateful for the supportand flexible approach DHS has taken in workingwith Portland District Health towards positioning thehealth service to meet future needs.The medical workforce issue is aligned with thenational trend of an ageing and diminishing number ofgeneral practitioners (GPs), nurses and staff generally,working in rural Australia. For Portland, the impactof this trend was the inability of the local GPs tosustain the workload associated with maintaining an‘on call after hours service’ with the available numberof doctors. It was necessary to negotiate an immediateshort-term solution that would support the present‘on call service’ whilst negotiating a more sustainablemodel.Negotiations with the GPs did find a short-termsolution, and with the cooperation and collaborationof the GPs, a more sustainable model of primarymedical care, including an after hours ‘on call’ serviceis being developed.Other factors that contributed to the downturn inactivity include the inability to recruit nursing staffand the resignation of Obstetrician and Gynaecologist(O&G) Dr Fulvio Bencina. The impact has been adecline in the number of births at PDH. Every effortis being made to recruit doctors with obstetric skillsand to date the outcome looks promising.The organisation has also taken action to ensure thatsufficient numbers of midwifery trained nursingstaff are available and have introduced an innovativenew model of care known colloquially as the ‘MidModel’. Similar models to this are increasingly beingintroduced across the state in order to cope with thescarcity of trained staff.In June 2005, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO),Alwin Gallina completed his contract with PortlandDistrict Health. Pending a permanent appointmentto the position, Dr Syd Allen was appointed ActingCEO.The Board thanks Dr Allen for the leadership heprovided, particularly in negotiations with the GPs,during this challenging period.AccreditationIn August 2004, Portland District Healthunsuccessfully underwent an organisation wide surveyby the Australian Council of Healthcare Standards(ACHS). The matters underpinning the nonaccreditationrelated to unresolved issues of corporateand clinical governance within the organization.These related to:• After hours on call service• Credentialing processes• Involvement of GPs in clinical forums and qualityactivities• Development of a model of obstetric andmidwifery services following the resignation ofDr Bencina.In March 2005 ACHS resurveyed the health serviceand awarded accreditation backdated to August2004. The Board extends their congratulations to thePortland District Health team on achieving such anexcellent result within such a short time frame.Capital Works ApprovalIn April we learned that the nursing homeredevelopment would be funded as part of the StateBudget. In early June the Minister for Aged Care theHon. Gavin Jennings officially announced this at afunction held at Portland.Minister for Aged Care, the Hon. Gavin Jennings6