Sydney Northern Beaches Rehab Hospital gets Top Marks for Consumer Participation in National Survey

Oct. 30, 2013 - PRLog -- South Pacific Private, a treatment centre for addictions and mood disorders on Sydney’s northern beaches, has been commended by The National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards for its partnerships with consumers in its recent national accreditation survey.

The hospital, which received full accreditation across all categories in the survey, was singled out by the surveyors for its work with consumers and received a merit in the category partnering with consumers.

“There was very strong evidence throughout the service that a central tenet of the organisation is partnering with consumers,” according to the surveyors.

South Pacific Private passed all applicable standards. However, the survey singled out several features of the hospital’s consumer involvement program including:

·         -The weekly consumer community meeting – an open forum for staff and consumers where feedback from consumers is fed back to the monthly management board meetings to help the hospital better plan services to meet clients’ needs.

·        - Ongoing participation of past clients in the Consumers and Carers Advisory Committee and involvement of consumers in engagement, including the development of a Facebook page called Pacific Recovery.

··         -Many initiatives being introduced at the hospital following feedback from clients – such as the 24/7 phone support line, and the development of aftercare packs, designed by clients.

Executive Director of South Pacific Private, Lorraine Wood, who founded the hospital in 1993, said that consumer participation and family participation was central to the hospital’s philosophy of care, stating, “We are delighted that the surveyors recognise our commitment to involving consumers at every stage in the treatment process.” She continued, “We look forward to continuing our partnership with consumers to support ongoing improvements in the safety and quality of our care and to ensure that we remain responsive to patient, carer and consumer needs.”

The National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards were introduced by the Australian Government in January 2013 to improve the quality of health service provision in Australia.  The Standards provide a nationally consistent statement of the level of care consumers should be able to expect from health services.

The 10 NSQHS Standards are:

1.    Governance for Safety and Quality in Health Service Organisations

2.    Partnering with Consumers

3.    Preventing and Controlling Healthcare Associated Infections

4.    Medication Safety

5.    Patient Identification and Procedure Matching

6.    Clinical Handover

7.    Blood and Blood Products

8.    Preventing and Managing Pressure Injuries

9.    Recognising and Responding to Clinical Deterioration in Acute Health Care

10.Preventing Falls and Harm from Falls

Claire Barber, South Pacific Private’s General Manager added that “effective partnerships, consumer experience and high quality health care are of the utmost importance to South Pacific Private and we feel privileged to work so closely with our consumers, carers and healthcare partners.” Claire strongly emphasized that we understand the value of patient feedback and by placing it at the heart of what we do we are able to ensure that we make meaningful and effective decisions with regards our provision of care.

Media inquiries and interviews with Lorraine Wood or a member of SPP’s Consumer Advisory Committee: contact Jacquie Grant Public Relations Manager at South Pacific Private, Phone: (02) 9905 3667.

About South Pacific Private (SPP): SPP is a Treatment Centre specialising in the integrated medical, psychiatric and psychotherapeutic treatment of mental illness, mood disorder, addictions and trauma related conditions. Established in 1993, SPP is located in Curl Curl on Sydney’s northern beaches.  For more information visit www.southpacificprivate.com.au