Quality of Care Report - Ballarat Health Services

Community Advisory Committee Front row: From left Mark Patterson, Liz Sheedy, Jan Skewes, Maree Harris, Andrew Miller, back row WendyHubbard, Lois Abraham, Greg Haines (Chair), Simone Rosewall and Debra Tsilfidis.Planning andDeveloping the2007-2008 Qualityof Care ReportOur aim is to make this report relevantto the community includingpatients/clients/residents and our staff.To plan this report we:• Reviewed the guidelines andminimum reporting requirements for2007-2008 from the Department ofHuman Services (DHS)• Reviewed the DHS comments for the2006-2007 BHS report• Reviewed the feedback that you thepublic provided us by filling in andreturning the questionnaire in the2006-2007 report2006-2007 Quality of Care FeedbackBHS was pleased with the constructivefeedback provided to us by you thepublic. We went to great lengths toensure the most effective means ofdistribution. This meant that there wasan opportunity to distribute over19,000 copies particularly by circulatingthe report in The Courier newspaper.We reviewed each and every feedbackform sent in and incorporated many ofthe suggestions in this years report.A number of the feedback formsrequested additional information aboutPsychiatric Services and we haveresponded by making this service afeature of our report. We receivedconstructive feedback from DHS andhave reviewed this in line with thecriteria for the 2007-2008 report.Some of our staff wrote to us aboutthe report reminding us that the staffwho work at BHS are also part of thecommunity. We considered how wecould incorporate this in our2007-2008 report and have not onlyreported on staff and their qualityoutcomes but have included theirstories as part of the community. Dueto the number of department headsthat suggested we promote thevaluable services they provide to thecommunity, we have decided to offer acomprehensive listing of all SpecialtyServices available at BHS to keep youinformed.Distributing the reportHard copies of this report have beendistributed widely across thecommunity via health services, medicalservices, community services, localcouncil and public libraries. For peoplewith access to a computer we have putthe report on Ballarat Health Servicesinternet site at www.bhs.org.au it canalso be viewed by BHS staff on theintranet.A full page summary of this report hasalso been placed in our regionalnewspaper to ensure a widedistribution. A newsletter summary ofthe report will be sent to all patientsadmitted to BHS during the next sixmonths.If you would like this publication as a;• Large Print Version• On CD• Translation in a different languageplease contact Ms Helen Manning(03) 5320 4439We value your feedbackTo continue to improve our reporting, please let us know what you think sothat we can continue to meet your needs. Once you have read the report,please take the time to complete the freepost evaluation form in this reportand send it back to us. Alternatively you can email your feedback toqualityofcarereport@bhs.org.au or telephone us on (03) 5320 4014 or(03) 5320 4439 with your comments.Ballarat Health Services Quality of Care Report 2007-08 4