❓ This WA parliamentary question seeks an update on the implementation status and timeline of the 30 recommendations from the Independent Inquiry into Perth Children’s Hospital, prompted by concerns raised in a tabled report.
AnsweredQoN 468Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to the Independent Inquiry into Perth Children’s Hospital tabled
on 9 November 2021, and I ask: (a) will the Minister please provide the status of each of the 30 recommendations from the Inquiry; and (b) can the Minister provide a timeline or priority order for implementation
of the recommendations?
on 9 November 2021, and I ask: (a) will the Minister please provide the status of each of the 30 recommendations from the Inquiry; and (b) can the Minister provide a timeline or priority order for implementation
of the recommendations?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
16 February 2022
Responded by
Minister representing the Minister for Health
Response time
3 days
(a-b)
Status and priority of the Independent Inquiry into Perth Children’s Hospital (PCH) recommendations:
Child and Adolescent Health Service (CAHS), in collaboration with the Department of Health (Department) and Health Service Providers (HSPs) are steadily working through the recommendations. The below table summarises the priority and status of each recommendation.
Recommendation
Priority
Status
1. Executive team and senior clinicians approach the family in a process of open disclosure and seek to engage them in a healing dialogue.
High
Commenced
2. Health system and CAHS engage the family in implementing the recommendations and maintaining learnings, improvements and reforms.
High
Ongoing
3. Expand the PCH capacity to train and support Emergency Department (ED) staff in communication, partnering with consumers and customer relations.
Medium
Ongoing
4. The importance of the parent’s extraordinary role in the recognition of deterioration, or indeed any change in the behaviour or health status of their child, be reinforced and embedded throughout all clinical and administrative protocols and training curricula.
High
Ongoing
5. The Call and Respond Early (CARE) Call system, as adapted to ED settings, be progressed, evaluated, sustained and rolled out across multiple WA locations, as part of Aishwarya’s CARE Call, led by the Department.
High
Complete
6. The Executive team engage CAHS Board and clinicians and managers on purpose of Root Cause Analysis (RCA), role in hospital’s safety program and limitations as an investigative tool.
High
Commenced
7. The hospital’s RCA policy and procedures include guidance that is issued to both RCA team members and interviewees that clearly outlines their roles, responsibilities, the confidentiality extended to the RCA process, together with how the RCA findings will be used.
Medium
Commenced
8. A consumer-friendly document should explain the purpose and format of the RCA process and clarify how the patient and their family may be involved in the RCA process, the opportunity to be interviewed and when and in what form they will receive the report.
Medium
Commenced
9. The Department supports the implementation of the recommendations of the draft Clinical Excellence Division Review of the Guidance for Procedures Associated with Notification of Reportable Conduct to provide a clearer more cohesive policy framework for managing complaints and concerns about clinicians.
Medium
Commenced
10. Embed an appropriately resourced ED nursing capability framework and ED based education team to facilitate career pathways and continuing education.
Medium
Ongoing
11. Minimise the use of casual and temporary contract staff in the continuing development of workforce strategies
Medium
Ongoing
12. Plan and monitor the ED workforce to be contemporary, balanced and adequate across the disciplines and the spectrum of seniority.
Medium
Ongoing
13. Expand measures to enable junior medical staff to access leave and continuing education.
Medium
Ongoing
14. Enhance the structure, function and governance of the PCH Patient Flow Unit (PFU) to optimally coordinate patient referrals and flow, including out of hours, with no inappropriate requests for ED to manage non-ED patients.
Medium
Ongoing
15. Progress strategies to enable early discharge of children, such as criteria-based discharge, to improve predictable daily hospital capacity.
Medium
Ongoing
16. Elevate hospital wide priority placed on children waiting in ED who require inpatient beds or consultant review
High
Ongoing
17. Consumer engagement and participation to be openly explored and progressed, with the intent of productive engagement and meaningful partnership.
Medium
Ongoing
18. Partner with consumers in progressing a quality improvement framework.
High
Commenced
19. Measures be designed and implemented to identify and monitor health care utilisation by Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) patients and families
Medium
Commenced
20. Organisation review and progress its approach to development, implementation and monitoring of CALD capability strategies, along with commensurate staff competence training programs, enlisting the support of external agencies and expertise.
Medium
Ongoing
21. The framework, work plan and commitments that underpin the implementation of the RCA recommendations and the ANF 10-point Plan be given the highest priority, be appropriately resourced and be designed to be sustainable.
High
Commenced
22. Evaluation and monitoring of agreed indicators to be incorporated into all implementation plans including the sepsis pathway and trigger tool, and be supported with sustained resourcing.
High
Commenced
23. The program of relationship healing and of restoration of trust be fully embraced and maintained, with not only absolute commitment but also appropriate expertise and resources.
High
Commenced
24. Embed a learning culture that ensures findings and outcomes of reviews and reports are communicated widely and treated as an ongoing opportunity to reflect and improve systems, processes and activities.
Medium
Commenced
25. Integrate and prioritise clinical risk in the risk management policy and reinforce the escalation pathways for departments and services.
Medium
Commenced
26: Review the organisational and committee structures, aiming to streamline pathways for progression / escalation of clinical and organisational risks, with appropriate engagement of the ED and other service departments.
Medium
Commenced
27: The benefits of sharing and collaboration with other children’s hospitals continue to receive appropriate emphasis, particularly in relation to ED and workforce challenges.
Medium
Ongoing
28: Reforms identified to enhance, improve and sustain workforce include regular sharing of information with peers across WA and nation.
High
Commenced
29: CAHS engage the Department of Health in seeking to establish formal networks across children’s healthcare in metropolitan and regional WA, with the aim of improving access, encouraging standardisation of care, supporting community confidence in local facilities and managing activity flows.
Medium
Commenced
30: Engage peer-group children’s hospitals in response to the national PED trends, warnings and proposed actions identified through the collaborative efforts of the Directors of Australian PEDs.
Medium
Ongoing
Status and priority of the Independent Inquiry into Perth Children’s Hospital (PCH) recommendations:
Child and Adolescent Health Service (CAHS), in collaboration with the Department of Health (Department) and Health Service Providers (HSPs) are steadily working through the recommendations. The below table summarises the priority and status of each recommendation.
Recommendation
Priority
Status
1. Executive team and senior clinicians approach the family in a process of open disclosure and seek to engage them in a healing dialogue.
High
Commenced
2. Health system and CAHS engage the family in implementing the recommendations and maintaining learnings, improvements and reforms.
High
Ongoing
3. Expand the PCH capacity to train and support Emergency Department (ED) staff in communication, partnering with consumers and customer relations.
Medium
Ongoing
4. The importance of the parent’s extraordinary role in the recognition of deterioration, or indeed any change in the behaviour or health status of their child, be reinforced and embedded throughout all clinical and administrative protocols and training curricula.
High
Ongoing
5. The Call and Respond Early (CARE) Call system, as adapted to ED settings, be progressed, evaluated, sustained and rolled out across multiple WA locations, as part of Aishwarya’s CARE Call, led by the Department.
High
Complete
6. The Executive team engage CAHS Board and clinicians and managers on purpose of Root Cause Analysis (RCA), role in hospital’s safety program and limitations as an investigative tool.
High
Commenced
7. The hospital’s RCA policy and procedures include guidance that is issued to both RCA team members and interviewees that clearly outlines their roles, responsibilities, the confidentiality extended to the RCA process, together with how the RCA findings will be used.
Medium
Commenced
8. A consumer-friendly document should explain the purpose and format of the RCA process and clarify how the patient and their family may be involved in the RCA process, the opportunity to be interviewed and when and in what form they will receive the report.
Medium
Commenced
9. The Department supports the implementation of the recommendations of the draft Clinical Excellence Division Review of the Guidance for Procedures Associated with Notification of Reportable Conduct to provide a clearer more cohesive policy framework for managing complaints and concerns about clinicians.
Medium
Commenced
10. Embed an appropriately resourced ED nursing capability framework and ED based education team to facilitate career pathways and continuing education.
Medium
Ongoing
11. Minimise the use of casual and temporary contract staff in the continuing development of workforce strategies
Medium
Ongoing
12. Plan and monitor the ED workforce to be contemporary, balanced and adequate across the disciplines and the spectrum of seniority.
Medium
Ongoing
13. Expand measures to enable junior medical staff to access leave and continuing education.
Medium
Ongoing
14. Enhance the structure, function and governance of the PCH Patient Flow Unit (PFU) to optimally coordinate patient referrals and flow, including out of hours, with no inappropriate requests for ED to manage non-ED patients.
Medium
Ongoing
15. Progress strategies to enable early discharge of children, such as criteria-based discharge, to improve predictable daily hospital capacity.
Medium
Ongoing
16. Elevate hospital wide priority placed on children waiting in ED who require inpatient beds or consultant review
High
Ongoing
17. Consumer engagement and participation to be openly explored and progressed, with the intent of productive engagement and meaningful partnership.
Medium
Ongoing
18. Partner with consumers in progressing a quality improvement framework.
High
Commenced
19. Measures be designed and implemented to identify and monitor health care utilisation by Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) patients and families
Medium
Commenced
20. Organisation review and progress its approach to development, implementation and monitoring of CALD capability strategies, along with commensurate staff competence training programs, enlisting the support of external agencies and expertise.
Medium
Ongoing
21. The framework, work plan and commitments that underpin the implementation of the RCA recommendations and the ANF 10-point Plan be given the highest priority, be appropriately resourced and be designed to be sustainable.
High
Commenced
22. Evaluation and monitoring of agreed indicators to be incorporated into all implementation plans including the sepsis pathway and trigger tool, and be supported with sustained resourcing.
High
Commenced
23. The program of relationship healing and of restoration of trust be fully embraced and maintained, with not only absolute commitment but also appropriate expertise and resources.
High
Commenced
24. Embed a learning culture that ensures findings and outcomes of reviews and reports are communicated widely and treated as an ongoing opportunity to reflect and improve systems, processes and activities.
Medium
Commenced
25. Integrate and prioritise clinical risk in the risk management policy and reinforce the escalation pathways for departments and services.
Medium
Commenced
26: Review the organisational and committee structures, aiming to streamline pathways for progression / escalation of clinical and organisational risks, with appropriate engagement of the ED and other service departments.
Medium
Commenced
27: The benefits of sharing and collaboration with other children’s hospitals continue to receive appropriate emphasis, particularly in relation to ED and workforce challenges.
Medium
Ongoing
28: Reforms identified to enhance, improve and sustain workforce include regular sharing of information with peers across WA and nation.
High
Commenced
29: CAHS engage the Department of Health in seeking to establish formal networks across children’s healthcare in metropolitan and regional WA, with the aim of improving access, encouraging standardisation of care, supporting community confidence in local facilities and managing activity flows.
Medium
Commenced
30: Engage peer-group children’s hospitals in response to the national PED trends, warnings and proposed actions identified through the collaborative efforts of the Directors of Australian PEDs.
Medium
Ongoing
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