Annual Report highlights triumphs and challenges in country health
For WA Country Health Service (WACHS), this year’s Annual Report is a chronicle of a year of extraordinary challenges and triumphs.
Released this week, the 2022-23 Annual Report, showcases the extraordinary lengths we have gone to in support of country communities this past year.
It was a particular honour to see Bunbury Regional Hospital named 2022’s Most Outstanding Regional Hospital at the Australia Patients Association (APA) awards.
In May, then Premier Mark McGowan officially opened the $61.4 million Newman Health Service, a purpose-built healthcare hub that brings together key health services under one roof with a $15 million contribution from BHP.
The new-look $9.86 million Dongara Health Centre was also unveiled, with Collie Health Service’s new operating theatre – part of a $14.7 million redevelopment – providing locals with access to state-of-the-art healthcare technology.
Albany’s $13.1 million radiation oncology facility was opened in March, providing Great Southern residents with access to highly specialised and potentially lifesaving cancer treatment closer to home – part of our commitment to world class healthcare in the bush.
As the use of technology extends to support regional patients and families more than ever before, WACHS now has 98 emergency telehealth-enabled regional sites, along with 59 sites where local staff can provide continuity of care for patients with 24/7 support from expert clinicians via telehealth.
Notable milestones for our award-winning Command Centre include the expansion of the Acute Patient Transfer Coordination (APTC) to provide 24/7 coverage of regional WA.
Led by WACHS in partnership with Royal Flying Doctor Service and St John Ambulance WA, APTC oversees safe, timely and efficient patient transport to and from regional and metropolitan hospitals.
We have also worked hard to bolster our workforce across the regions with innovative programs designed to ‘grow our own’.
In February, 17 country registered nurses embarked on a journey to become the next generation of country midwives, commencing a fully funded Postgraduate Diploma of Midwifery.
Our success in this space also includes the establishment the Rural Psychiatry Training program, attracting more medical interns to the country than ever before, and deploying a record number of newly graduated nurses and midwives.
Our Aboriginal health teams led the development of accessible and culturally safe services and programs including the release of the WACHS Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing Action Plan 2022-2025, which sets service-wide targets and outcomes including Closing the Gap, health service reporting and workforce development initiatives.
We also saw innovative approaches to providing culturally secure health messaging including the development of talking posters at our Kimberley hospitals, presenting audio health messages in local languages.
Regional healthcare teams have also faced another year of challenges with resolve.
In January 2023, the Kimberley experienced the worst flooding WA has ever seen. A State level incident management team was established to respond to the needs of impacted communities.
Our staff, both on the ground and centrally, led a collaborative multi-agency response to meet the health needs of impacted communities.
The collaborative efforts of the team have been recognised with a nomination in the 2023 Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPAA) WA awards.
WA Country Health Service A/Chief Executive Rob Pulsford noted that none of these achievements would have been possible without the outstanding contributions and dedication of staff.
“I am immensely grateful to our staff for their ingenuity, their dedication and their collaboration with our partners in order to provide better outcomes for our patients at every turn,” Mr Pulsford said.
“They represent the very best in healthcare.”