Quality of Care Report - Ballarat Health Services

Promoting theBenefits of aMulticultural ServiceCultural DiversityWhilst almost 87 per cent of thepopulation of the Grampians regionare born in Australia, we do have asignificant group of people who havechosen to make Australia and ourregion their home. Over the past 12months a number of families havesettled into Ballarat following theirarrival from Togo in West Africa. Thesefamilies have established themselves inthe community with children attendingboth primary and secondary schoolsand all families have become activelyinvolved with their school and churchcommunities as well as the BallaratAfrican Association.Community sectors responded well totheir arrival, with health professionalsand service providers working togetherto ensure a smooth transition for thesefamilies into our community. BallaratHealth Services is a partner in thisprogram and supports other localhealth providers by delivering acutehealth services as required.Cultural Diversity CommitteeThe Cultural Diversity Committee,established in June 2006, encouragescommunity representatives fromculturally diverse backgrounds. Theinvolvement of BHS on a number ofcommittees in the community hasenabled us to develop a betterunderstanding of the cultural needs ofall members of the community. As aresult we have implemented greateruse of interpreter services andtranslation cards across the healthservice. In June 2008 we took part in a‘Multicultural Conversation’ inpartnership with the City of Ballarat todiscuss what we do well and where wecan improve to ensure we are providingour services in a culturally appropriateway for all of our consumers.BHS and Ballarat and District AboriginalCooperative (BADAC) PartnershipAgreement continues to focus toimprove the health outcomes for theAboriginal community within theGrampians region.One of the major priorities of thePartnership Agreement has focused onreducing barriers to access forAboriginal and Torres Strait Islanderpeople living in the Grampians region.The 17 year life expectancy gapbetween Aborigines and otherAustralians can be attributed, at leastpartly, to their inability to access healthservices due to some or all of thesebarriers. In the 21st century we are stillseeing health conditions and healthoutcomes for Aboriginal people similarto those experienced by non-Aboriginalpeople in the 1920’s.The Partnership Agreement Taskforcehas implemented initiatives andstrategies to break down barriers toaccess, promote greater understandingof health priorities by key clinicians andimprove data collection. BHS, inconjunction with BADAC, hasconsidered the needs of the localAboriginal community and developed anumber of key roles within the healthservice to support and enhance accessto services.Key achievements include:• The Aboriginal flag was raised at thefront of the hospital during NationalAboriginal Islander Day ObservanceCommittee (NAIDOC) week 2007 tohighlight the awareness of thepartnership to improve Aboriginalhealth in the Grampians regiontogether with increasedunderstanding and communicationbetween BHS and BADAC;• improved community relationsbetween BHS and the Aboriginalcommunity;• joint planning of servicedevelopments;• Initiatives to ensure clients attendOutpatient Departmentappointments at BHS. Throughcollaboration between the BADAChealth clinic, BHS and the clients, thefail to attend rate has decreasedfrom around 40 per cent to 15-20per cent, which is in line with theaverage of all clients.• A weekly health clinic staffed by theBHS Aboriginal Midwife, locatedwithin BADAC, and run inconjunction with the Maternal andChild Health Nurse Programmanaged by the City of Ballarat,continues to be very well attended bynew mums and their children.• BHS staff participated in a PatientRegistration Training pilot program toimprove accuracy of data for allpatients on admission includingcomprehensively collectinginformation about the Aboriginalcommunity’s health needs.The Partnership Agreement and theTaskforce will continue planning toensure the identification andimplementation of strategies andinitiatives to improve access and reducebarriers for the Aboriginal communityto reduce the gap between healthoutcomes and life expectancycompared with all Australians.Job restores hope and pride for African refugee:Sudan’s Francis Laki has got his life back on track. The 48-year-old refugee has a job,he has his dreams and, most important, he has his pride. It is a wonderful change fora man who, just four months ago, had none of these things after coming to Ballaratin 2006. Determined to provide a better life for wife, Flora and their three children,Mr Laki reached out to Ballarat employment program, African BEAT.The initiative, designed to assist people from a refuge background, provides applicantswith training, work experience and job opportunities. With the co-operation ofBallarat Health Services, African BEAT employment support officer WilbertMapombere placed Mr Laki in its environmental services department in October lastyear. Mr Laki’s duties at Ballarat Health Services include cleaning and meal delivery.9 Ballarat Health Services Quality of Care Report 2007-08