Units meet national standards

Rural Northwest Health’s acute-care units at Warracknabeal and Hopetoun have successfully passed the 10 national standards required for accreditation.

Team members celebrated after Australian Council on Healthcare Standards surveyors announced they would recommend to the council that Rural Northwest Health be re-accredited.

Surveyors Dr Margaret Sanger and Sally Percy visited both campuses to meet with team members and review documentation from all departments.

Dr Sanger said there was not much for the survey team to be critical about.

“We were impressed by several safety and quality initiatives Rural Northwest Health has implemented,” she said.

“I’m also very impressed with how the organisation engages with its community members, especially how Rural Northwest Health keeps them informed of what they are doing and seeks their opinions on their programs.”

Rural Northwest Health chief executive Catherine Morley said she was proud of her team for its great effort to achieve such praise.

“This is not just about the great care received in acute but the overall service from all departments including administration and environmental services,” she said.

“The surveyors reviewed protocols, audits, reports, minutes and training schedules. They also gave us a couple of opportunities to improve, which we embraced.”

Ms Morley said team members stepped up and took responsibility for certain standards.

“There’s a lot of people to thank both at Hopetoun and Warracknabeal and at board level,” she said.

“But there were also community members such as Peter Mcdermott, Wendy Hewitt and Barb Hallam who provided their thoughts on how we engage and empower the community.

“They were wonderful and their input was important.”

Ms Morley said one of the comments that stood out from the surveyors was that teamwork was evident and that every role was important to ensure the organisation provided high quality and safe services.