Albany rehabilitation ward recognised as one of the best in Australia

The WA Country Health Service (WACHS) rehabilitation team based at Albany Health Campus (AHC) has been recognised by the Australasian Rehabilitation Outcomes Centre (AROC) as one of the best in Australia.

A recent AROC report detailed how rehabilitation staff at the facility work to reduce length of stay for patients – ensuring they can return to life as normal, as quickly as possible.

WACHS Great Southern Regional Director Geraldine Ennis said she was exceptionally proud of the team who continue to put patient care of the centre of all that they do.

“They’re a multidisciplinary team from across allied health, medical and nursing who are working together to improve outcomes for Great Southern residents,” Ms Ennis said.

“Like all healthcare workers, they continue to perform extraordinary work during unprecedented times for the entire health system,” she added.

Recent patient feedback reiterated the positive impact team were having on community members, particularly those who have suffered from stroke.

“I don’t think you realise how much it meant to have your help so I could go home,” one grateful patient said.

The excellent result for the rehabilitation team follows the introduction of a digital messaging system at AHC designed to improve the delivery of critical hospital communications.

The Messaging Integration Engine (MIE) acts as an IT interpreter; receiving messages from different systems, modifying them into formats that can be understood by other systems and distributing those messages.

Ms Ennis said the new system was already helping staff provide faster, more responsive care to patients and removed some administrative burden from clinical teams.

“Our staff told us they wanted a system like this, and it was really important we listened and delivered on it.